Are we there yet?

“Are we there yet?” was the impatient yell from 1 of the 5 of us kids packed in the back of our minivan. Only a couple of hours into our 14-hour drive, and we couldn’t wait for my mom or dad to say, “Yep, almost there.”
 
This Labor Day weekend, admittedly, I feel a bit impatient as we venture deeper into the Information Age. I’m thinking about the preparation of our future workforce – the engine of our economy and largely the voting citizenry of our democracy. I wonder when we’re going to get “there”-to Preambleland- the land of Justice, Tranquility, Welfare, Blessings of Liberty, and Posterity.
 
I’ve considered the time we’ve been traveling. And, as a member of this 332,403,650-member American union, I’m anxious, excited
even, frequently wanting to yell out, “Are we there yet?” And, with the hope the destination promises, I can’t wait to hear: “We’ve arrived.”
 
In a book that indulges in ideal destinations, Where do We Go from Here?, Dr. Martin Luther King said, “no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present.” We must be leery, then, not to allow the past to haunt us, live among us, and force us to travel in circles.
 
Let’s consider the past. Most scholars agree that approximately 10% of African Americans were literate in 1860. This 10% was in the shadows of chattel slavery and state laws prohibiting slaves from learning to read in antebellum or Pre-Civil War America. This 10% included Frederick Douglas, a former slave and author who rose to lead in the abolitionist movement and said, “Once you learn to read, you will forever be free.” This 10% included Maria Stewart, a journalist, abolitionist, and the 1st woman to speak in public.
 
This literate 10% might have been the predecessors of the talented tenth made famous by W.E.B. DuBois.
 
In 2022, are we ok with simply a talented 10%, not in theory, but reality? According to the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES), ONLY 11% of African American Texas 8th graders, in 2019, met the reading proficiency standard, and a statistically insignificant number earned “advanced.” Unless we actively combat the conditions ripe to perpetuate the dismal performance by the 89%, we submit to ensuring the success of a few – turning our back on most.
 
Unfortunately, African Americans aren’t the only students in the sinking ship, SS Literacy. In 2019, pre-pandemic, only 19% of
Texas 8th grade Hispanics, and 25% of 8th graders statewide earned the stamp of proficiency (according to NCES).
 
We, the American workforce, cant journey forward without consistent attention to the holes in our education system, like those resulting in an under-literate citizenry.

Story Square believes families are lighthouses to help SS Literacy turn the corner once and for all.
 
Join Story Square, city-, county-,and statewide partners for Story Square’s Lit with Families, the first-ever Texas family literacy festival.