From: Pat Inniss (inniss@sprynet.com)
Date: Tue Aug 28 2001 - 18:15:47 MDT
Mike Lorrey wrote:
>
> Pat Inniss wrote:
> >
> > Mike Lorrey wrote:
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > > Well, considering how much the left accepts the means justifying the
> > > ends if it is their ends being served, you may notice that literacy
> > > among African Americans was much higher prior to Brown v. Board of
> > > Education than it is today....
> >
> > Mike -
> >
> > This allegation that illiteracy has increased among African Americans
> > following Brown vs Board of Education is, as well as surprising, also
> > quite inaccurate. According to Arthur Hu's statistics site
> > (http://www.leconsulting.com/arthurhu/index/literacy.htm), which I hope
> > you find a sufficiently conservative source, illiteracy among blacks
> > over age 14 declined from 11% to 3.6% from 1947 to 1969.
>
> And what has occured since then, Pat? Since 1969, black illiteracy has
> skyrocketed. I'm not surprised, though, this is rather typical 'cherry
> picking' statistical practice. Integration wasn't even beginning to
> spread widely until 1969, so using pre-1969 statistics to claim that
> black illiteracy has not gone up since BvBOE is a fraudulent
> presentation of facts. The facts you present, of pre-1969 data, show
> that segregated educational systems were having a positive impact upon
> literacy among african-americans.
> <snip>
Black illiteracy has "skyrocketed" since 1969? You accuse me of "cherry
picking" statistics, when you have presented no supporting evidence
whatsoever. This isn't a debate between liberal and conservative. It is
actually between facts and fantasy. Once again I ask you, upon what are
you basing these assertions? If you had perused my other link you would
have seen additional statistics regarding the decline in illiteracy
among African Americans during the 20th century. It is just the opposite
of what you claim. If you get a chance between posts, take a gander at
http://nces.ed.gov/naal/historicaldata/illiteracy.asp. There you will
find that from 1969 to 1979, when you say integration was beginning to
spread widely and that illiteracy was consequently "skyrocketing," the
rate of illiteracy among blacks over age 14 fell by more than 50%. While
illiteracy among African Americans remains relatively high, it has never
returned to the levels experienced before school desegregation was
mandated.
I am not saying that integration caused an increase in literacy.
However, your theory that racial integration resulted in an increase in
illiteracy among blacks is clearly contradicted by the evidence. If you
can prove otherwise, please present your data.
Regards,
Pat Inniss
inniss@sprynet.com
http://home.sprynet.com/~inniss
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