Anti-Black Literacy Laws and Policies

This book explores how anti-Black racism has shaped anti-literacy laws, policies, and customs in the United States, revealing the historical roots of inequities in literacy education for Black students. It documents the efforts to deny equal literacy access and offers recommendations for dismantling racist reading research and laws.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 30 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This groundbreaking book delves into the profound ways in which anti-Black racism has shaped and perpetuated anti-literacy laws, policies, and customs throughout history, from the colonial era to the present day. Serving as a counternarrative to the history of Black literacy in the United States, the book employs a historical lens to unveil the intricate political and social structures that have consistently failed to promote equity in literacy education for Black students. Arlette Ingram Willis takes readers on a captivating journey, illuminating the impact of anti-Black racism on literacy education by identifying and documenting the often overlooked history of Black literacy education, which is inextricably linked to a history of White supremacy.

Willis meticulously analyzes, exposes, illuminates, and interrogates incontrovertible historical evidence of the social, political, and legal efforts to deny equal literacy access. The chapters delve into an in-depth exploration of the evolution of White supremacy's role in impeding Black readers' progress, a critical examination of empirical research and underlying ideological assumptions that have limited literacy access, and a review of federal and state documents that restricted reading access for Black individuals. Throughout the text, Willis interweaves historical vignettes to counter the whitewashing of Black people's literacy history in the United States and offers practical recommendations for dismantling racist reading research and laws.

By centering the narrative on the experiences of Black people in the United States, Willis shifts the conversation to focus not only on the historical impact of such laws and policies but also on their connections to present-day laws and policies. This book serves as a definitive history of the instructional and legal structures that have perpetuated anti-Black racism and hindered literacy development for generations. It is a must-read for educators, policymakers, activists, and anyone interested in understanding the complex dynamics of race and literacy in American history.

Weight: 514g
Dimension: 229 x 153 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032275000