Summary Of The Human Cost Of Literacy By Frederick Douglass

Illiteracy: So Am I A Part Of The Democracy Or Not Frederick Douglass’s (Learning to Read and write) written in 1845 is able to complicate Jonathan Kozol’s (The Human Cost Of An Illiterate Society) written in 1967. Kozol writes about people needing to be literate to become a part of the democracy and be considered a full citizen. Douglass, a slave that taught himself to read and write was considered a property with no freedom or liberty. Thus characterizing slaves as beasts and dehumanizing them. Therefore complicating Kozol's claim by portraying a picture of people that have what Kozol is looking for but are still owned by others and have no freedom. Douglass not only complicates Kozol’s case but throws obstacles like racism or gender

In Kozol's work he writes about people that have no human rights at all because they are illiterate. He explains to the reader how they have to act upon their rights not have then just written on paper. But looking at some that is literate and is not allowed to do anything without his master's permission. Human rights is something everyone has but people were able to use it to take control of others. As Douglass writes, masters, or males, or what were also called the head of the family had all the human rights they wanted and were considered a part of the democracy. Douglass draws a clear picture of what it was like to be a slave that knew how to read and write with no freedom at all. Jonathan Kozol writes “ They do not know what rights they have, what deadlines and requirements they face, what options they might choose to exercise [...] Their rights exist in print but not in fact” (151). Kozol here is explaining how the basic human rights do exist but people cannot live up to them. He explains that the rights are written down but no one acts upon them because they are not literate and do not know what their rights are. Furthermore Frederick Douglass writes “ I was now about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (134). Douglass finds out his rights

A citizen is not by reading or writing it is by what they can and cannot do. Their is no point of knowing hot to read and write if people are still going to be dehumanized and treated like animals that only do what they are told. Becoming a citizen or even half-citizen like Kozol writes is not a goal to be reached by reading or writing. It is better that people know who you are and treat you like a human then knowing how to read and write and still be a slave. It is better for people to look at others like they are fully equal regardless of who they are and what their skin color is then to look at them and say they know how to read and write and are still not citizens. They are more issues like Douglass addresses other than literacy. As Kozol writes about illiterates “ They are half-citizens. Their rights exist in print but but not in fact” (151). Kozol here writes about people being half a citizen with no rights because they are illiterate. On the contrary Douglass complicates that claim by writing “The first step in her downward course was in her ceasing to instruct me. She now She finally became even more violent than her husband himself” (133). Douglass here writes that citizenship does not matter because the male in the family or the head of the family was the one that was considered the citizen and