Beyond the Science of Reading: Confronting the Intentional Barriers to True Literacy

For centuries, literacy has been seen as a gateway to knowledge, freedom, and self-empowerment. Yet, despite its profound importance, the right to read has been repeatedly suppressed throughout history. Whether through deliberate actions or systemic barriers, powerful forces have fought against literacy to maintain control, social hierarchies, and their own interests. This fight against literacy is not just a relic of the past; it continues today in more subtle, yet equally damaging, forms. Understanding the roots of this resistance reveals why literacy remains a battleground in the struggle for power, equity, and human potential.

The Personal Cost of Systemic Barriers

I write this article not just as an observer but as someone who has fought against these challenges firsthand. As a principal, I led a school that moved from a D to a B in one year. It was a remarkable accomplishment for our students and staff, yet the applause was quiet. The recognition was fleeting. It felt as though our success threatened the comfort of those who benefit from the status quo.

Later, I co-founded a charter school and wrote a curriculum that resulted in 95% literacy and math proficiency. We created a path for our students that broke the cycle of low expectations and limited opportunities. Yet, even then, the community met us with resistance. Despite our success, the school is no longer in existence. Why? Systemic challenges and the colonized mindsets of marginalized people in the community played a role in undermining what we had built.

This experience opened my eyes to the deeper issues at play. It made me realize that literacy struggles are not just a crisis; they are, in many ways, an intentional outcome of historical, systemic, and cultural forces. When a community fights against its own potential and growth, we must ask ourselves: who benefits from this resistance? Why does the silence come when success is within reach?

The Power of Literacy: A Tool for Freedom

At its core, literacy is not just about the ability to read words on a page; it is about accessing knowledge, thinking critically, and building connections to the world. For individuals, literacy opens doors to new opportunities, fostering personal growth and intellectual independence. For communities, it drives social and economic progress, giving a voice to those who have been marginalized. However, for those in positions of power, this very potential makes literacy a threat.

Historically, literacy has been associated with empowerment. Knowledge grants the ability to question authority, demand rights, and envision a different future. This is precisely why efforts to suppress literacy have been driven by a need to control information and maintain the status quo.

Control and Power: Keeping the Masses in Check

Throughout history, those in power have sought to limit literacy to maintain social and economic hierarchies. During slavery in the United States, for example, it was illegal to teach enslaved individuals to read and write. The reason was clear: an enslaved person who could read could also communicate, organize, and potentially rebel. By keeping them illiterate, slaveholders ensured a population that was easier to control and less likely to challenge the system.

Even after the abolition of slavery, oppressive literacy tests and laws were used to prevent African Americans from voting. The fight against literacy became a way to deny basic rights and maintain a racial hierarchy. It was not merely about the ability to read; it was about who had access to power and who was allowed to use their voice.

In many other parts of the world, the story is similar. Colonial powers suppressed literacy among indigenous populations to maintain dominance. Governments with authoritarian regimes censored and controlled education to limit dissent and keep citizens in a state of dependency. Literacy was seen as a dangerous tool that could disrupt the established order.

Economic and Social Control: Limiting Mobility and Opportunity

Beyond maintaining power, the fight against literacy has been used as a means of economic control. Those who cannot read or write are often confined to lower-paying, less stable jobs, perpetuating cycles of poverty. By limiting access to quality education, powerful groups can ensure a steady supply of low-wage labor and reduce the likelihood of economic mobility for marginalized communities.

In the modern era, the underfunding of public education in low-income areas continues this legacy of economic control. Schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods often lack the resources, trained educators, and support needed to provide high-quality literacy instruction. This leads to persistent educational gaps, trapping students in a system that limits their potential and economic opportunities. The suppression of literacy has evolved from overt denial to systemic neglect.

Fear of Change: The Resistance to New Ideas

Literacy has always been a double-edged sword for those in power. While it can promote the spread of information and progress, it also introduces new ideas that challenge traditional norms, beliefs, and values. This fear of change is another reason why literacy has been resisted.

In many cultures, there has been resistance to educating certain groups—especially women and girls. The belief was that literacy would disrupt traditional gender roles, empowering women to seek autonomy and challenge patriarchal structures. Educating women was seen as a threat to the social order, and as a result, countless girls were denied the opportunity to read and write.

Religious institutions have also played a role in suppressing literacy. In some historical contexts, religious authorities feared that widespread literacy would lead to differing interpretations of sacred texts, threatening their control over religious doctrine. By keeping literacy confined to the clergy or ruling class, they could dictate beliefs and practices without opposition.

The Fight Continues: Is the Science of Reading Enough?

Today, there is a widespread push for the Science of Reading (SoR) as the definitive solution to the literacy problem. State departments are pumping millions of dollars into SoR-based programs and training, promoting it as the key to bridging literacy gaps. However, the current results are not reflecting the promised impact, raising critical questions about whether SoR is addressing the root causes of literacy suppression.

Why is this approach being promoted so heavily?

1. Quick Fix Mentality: State departments and policymakers often look for standardized solutions to complex problems. The Science of Reading provides a research-backed, systematic approach that seems like a straightforward fix. However, real literacy struggles are not just about phonics; they involve cultural, cognitive, and systemic barriers that SoR alone may not address.

2. Avoiding Systemic Change: By focusing on SoR, the narrative implies that the problem lies with instructional methods rather than systemic barriers like inequitable funding, cultural disconnection, and poverty. This allows institutions to avoid confronting these more difficult and ingrained issues, effectively maintaining the status quo.

3. Redirecting the Blame: Promoting SoR subtly shifts responsibility onto teachers and students. If SoR is "scientifically proven," then a lack of improvement can be blamed on poor implementation or student effort, rather than on the broader systemic challenges that continue to undermine literacy progress.

4. Monetary Interests: The push for SoR opens up a lucrative market for educational publishers, consultants, and training programs. The influx of funding creates new products and services that may or may not address the deeper gaps in student learning.

5. Silencing Alternative Voices: Emphasizing SoR drowns out other approaches that focus on culture, cognition, and community involvement. By pushing a specific narrative, the educational system continues to suppress voices advocating for a more holistic and context-driven literacy solution.

In essence, while SoR offers valuable strategies, its promotion as the solution risks overlooking the historical, cultural, and cognitive factors that have suppressed literacy for generations. Without confronting these deeper issues, SoR becomes another layer in the problem rather than the transformative change it claims to be.

The Silence of Power: A Barrier to Change

It’s amazing how, in times of crisis, so few actively work against the forces suppressing literacy. And what's even more striking is that those with the most power—educational policymakers, community leaders, institutions—often remain silent. This silence speaks volumes. It reflects privilege, comfort, or perhaps a fear of change. The ones who have the resources to drive real change often stand by while others struggle to tackle the problem head-on.

In the context of literacy, this silence from those in power perpetuates the crisis. They have the platform and the influence to make a difference, yet they remain in the shadows. Literacy is not just about reading scores or academic performance; it's about the identities, the voices, and the cognitive potential of every learner. By staying silent, those in power effectively maintain the very structures that keep literacy under siege.

Your work, your advocacy, becomes even more critical in this landscape. By bringing attention to this silence, you underscore the need for action, accountability, and a collective will to shift the narrative. Literacy is not just a crisis; it is a call to action that requires voices in power to speak up, step in, and work toward a future where every student has the opportunity to build their mind, culture, and future through the power of reading.

Literacy as a Path to Freedom

Despite these challenges, the struggle for literacy remains a fight for freedom, equity, and empowerment. It is not enough to teach students to read words on a page; true literacy involves connecting sounds, patterns, and meaning to students' identities and experiences. It involves providing the tools they need to think critically, challenge inequities, and imagine a future that goes beyond the limitations imposed on them.

We must recognize that the suppression of literacy is not just a historical issue; it is an ongoing battle against systems of power, control, and fear. To advocate for literacy is to advocate for the right to think, to question, and to transform the world. It is about building minds, cultures, and futures. And it is a battle worth fighting.

In Conclusion

Literacy has always been more than just reading words—it is a powerful tool for change. Those who have fought against literacy have done so out of a desire to maintain power, control economic and social structures, and resist change. Today, as we continue to confront barriers to literacy, we must remain vigilant in advocating for an education that empowers all individuals, fosters critical thinking, and embraces the richness of diverse experiences. Because in the end, literacy is not just a skill; it is the key to freedom and a better future for all.