Douglas And Malcolm X's Argument Essay

Knowledge is an effective factor in which human society relies on. Thru history, those who were educated were well-respected, honored and valued. Author Jonathan Kozol wrote his essay, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” to project the magnitude of knowledge and to explain that without it, people can suffer disastrous outcomes. He highlights real-life examples to how people suffer and as a result this leads to severe illiteracy, and his essay is a backing for familiarity and literacy. Douglass and Malcolm x’s personal experiences attests Kozol’s argument that people suffer due to chronic illiteracy. In his autobiography, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass", Douglass often gaps into claims that the condition of slavery and education are mismatched for slaves. making matters more difficult, gaining his education was a constant battle since he was to remain cautious since it was unlawful to teach a slave to …show more content…
Fredrick being a slave is a perfect example because this showed how Douglass couldn’t do for himself because by him being a slave limited him from his education. Slavery and education are irreconcilable because of how the system itself would not allow slaves the mental and physical freedom to make any use of their education. Instead, whatever knowledge they attained might just irritate the slave’s mind and make him or her quite unhappier with the circumstances and behavior than before. When Douglass begins to lose hope in his education and its value, the words of the slave owner inevitably come to mind when it is said, “as to himself, it [education] could do him no good, but a great deal of harm" (69). While the reader may shudder at relating to Covey or any of the other cruel masters, this is one point that is sometimes confirmed, especially when Douglass is unhappy as a result of his