[NLA] COABE Plantation Tour

[John Gordon]

Hi,

First of all, thanks to Janet for raising this important issue. Since getting it, I've been puzzling a bit about how to respond in a way that moves us forward. I have to admit, first of all, that I know nothing about COABE. I've never been to one of their conferences and even had to go to the website to find out what the CO in their name means. This may say more about me than the organization, but, honestly, I've been a director of a literacy program in New York for 17 years and I don't think I have ever heard anyone mention COABE in a meeting or discussion in all that time. Still though, I suspect the organization has more influence than my awareness of it would indicate and it raises, for me, the issue of who speaks for the field and from what perspective they are speaking. I don't have any idea how decisions are made in COABE or to what extent this incident is representative of the attitudes of its membership or leadership, but it does feel like it signals a need for an introspective look at what the organization is all about. 

I don't think we can separate our literacy work issues of race and class. Like it or not, our teaching, administrative decisions, and advocacy are infused with our attitudes on these issues. This discussion has been good so far, but I feel it raises larger questions that need more thoughtful consideration. Hopefully, it will spark a larger discussion about the ways issues of race and literacy work are interrelated and perhaps will help us move towards a more inclusive and critical awareness as a field. Certainly, those folks who are members of or participants in COABE need to address what is happening in that organization. 

But it's not only in the South that race continues to play a key role in determining who has access to education, jobs, social and political power. Questions about standardized testing, family literacy, access to education for welfare recipients, access to funding, all get approached through the prism of race--if not by us than by the people who make the decisions. What does it mean, for example, that the president is proposing to eliminate funding for prison literacy and incarcerated youth? How does he understand that and how do we understand it? Isn't that something we should be fighting over? When we walk into a congressperson's office, what are we actually advocating for, and what compromises are we willing to make? What significance does the continued presence of a Confederate Flag on South Carolina capital grounds have for a literacy conference planned for that state? 

I'm not sure how to move this discussion forward; perhaps folks a little more connected than I am will have a better idea. But I do think this question touches all of us and we need to find a way to address it in an ongoing and thoroughgoing way.

John Gordon

John Gordon
Education Director
The Fortune Society
53 West 23rd Street, 7th Floor
NYC, NY 10010
(212) 691-7554  ext. 516
jcgordon at fortunesociety.org


>>> Dani Moore <dani at unc.edu> 03/03/02 07:01PM >>>
Hello, everyone,

Unless I've missed it in one of the emails so far, I haven't seen any
mention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People's (NAACP's) economic boycott of South Carolina. For two years,
the NAACP has been waging the boycott over the issue of the Confederate
Flag. In 2000, the state's tourist industry lost over $100 million
dollars as a result of the boycott, which persuaded lawmakers to remove
the flag from inside the Capitol's chambers and from atop the dome. Yet,
the flag still flies on capital grounds and the boycott continues.

Many national and regional organizations have canceled meetings in the
state to support the NAACP efforts, including the National Association
of Federal and Postal Employees, the American Bar Association, Southeast
Conference United Church of Christ, the National Urban League,
Progressive National Baptist Convention, and the Association of American
Colleges and Universities.

There is also recent news on this boycott:
http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/280103p-2528512c.html 

I think this is an interesting dimension of the discussion, and I hope
it won't be overlooked in the dialogue here and at the conference. 

Best to all,

---------------------------------
Dani Moore
Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator
Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE)
dani at unc.edu     919.962.1542     
http://www.unc.edu/depts/scale 
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