Introduction
People often ask how certain policies or attitudes are “anti-Black” as if racism must always arrive with a burning cross or a racial slur. In reality, racism also appears in quieter ways, embedded in laws, systems, and everyday habits. Take the question of healthcare for undocumented immigrants. Some insist this is not about race but about legality or resources. Yet when 60% of Americans read at or below a sixth-grade level, the literacy crisis shapes how these debates unfold. It’s not just the inability to read a book or a sentence; it’s the inability to grasp the full implications of policies. This lack of comprehension is not random—it’s been produced and maintained by decades of inequality. And when people lack the tools to understand, they often default to suspicion, resentment, and scapegoating. That’s how systemic racism reproduces itself “in the wild,” right before our eyes.
The Literacy Crisis as a Mirror
We are seeing a surge of videos about literacy rates, and they’re shocking people. “Oh my God, they can’t read sentences. Oh my God, they can’t read books.” But literacy is more than decoding words—it’s comprehension, context, and critical thinking. Without that, public debates become sound bites rather than deep analysis. This is why conversations about racism often stall; many don’t have the cognitive scaffolding to see beyond the surface. They know the slogans but not the structures, the talking points but not the policies. Illiteracy, then, isn’t just about failing to read—it’s about failing to interpret, connect, and recognize patterns. And in that gap, harmful narratives thrive unchecked.
Driving Racism Without Understanding It
Think of it like driving a car. Millions of people can drive but cannot explain how an engine works or why brakes stop a vehicle. They know what to press and when, and that’s enough to get from point A to point B. Racism operates the same way for many. People learn to “drive” it—to participate in systems or conversations that perpetuate it—without knowing its mechanics. They can press the gas pedal of outrage or the brake of denial without understanding the machinery underneath. Demanding constant explanations of racism is one of those reflexes; it looks like curiosity but often functions as a stalling tactic. It keeps the system moving while pretending to question it.
How Policy Becomes Anti-Black
Policies like denying healthcare to undocumented immigrants may not mention race but still have racial effects. Undocumented populations in the U.S. are disproportionately people of color, especially from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Cutting off healthcare access doesn’t simply punish “illegals”; it exacerbates racial disparities in health outcomes, poverty, and mortality. That’s how structural racism works—it hides behind neutral language but produces unequal results. This is why simply asking “How is this anti-Black?” can miss the point. The question itself assumes racism is always explicit rather than systemic. Without comprehension, it’s easy to believe racism exists only in obvious, old-fashioned forms. But systems of power rarely announce themselves so plainly.
Illiteracy in Real Time
When you watch people online “debate” racism and demand that it be explained to them again and again, you’re seeing illiteracy in action. Not the kind measured by reading tests, but the deeper illiteracy of civic and social comprehension. They know the triggers, the buzzwords, and the shortcuts but not the larger structures. It’s tempting to dismiss this behavior as malicious, but it’s also a reflection of how people have been trained. For generations, public education has left millions with enough skills to “drive” democracy but not enough to understand its engine. This produces a population vulnerable to manipulation, disinformation, and scapegoating. It’s not that they know exactly what they’re doing; it’s that they’ve been equipped to act without understanding. That’s how racism sustains itself generation after generation.
The Cost of Not Knowing
The literacy gap isn’t just an educational problem—it’s a political one. It shapes who can recognize injustice, who can mobilize against it, and who can be manipulated into defending it. This is why people can rail against “illegals” without realizing they’re supporting policies with racist consequences. They can “drive” the rhetoric without seeing the machinery of white supremacy. By the time the harm is done, the damage seems like a natural outcome rather than a policy choice. This is why calls for better education and critical thinking are not separate from racial justice but central to it. To dismantle racism, you have to dismantle the conditions that let people operate it unconsciously. Otherwise, the cycle repeats.
Memoir of Awakening
I remember the first time I realized this connection. I was scrolling through videos about the literacy crisis, amazed by the statistics and the stunned reactions. Then I saw a clip of someone demanding yet again, “Tell me how XYZ is anti-Black,” with a smirk, as if the question itself were a trap. In that moment, I understood: they were driving racism without knowing how the engine worked. They pressed the gas of denial, the brake of faux curiosity, and kept the system moving. I thought about my own learning curve—how long it took me to connect policies to their racial effects. It was like suddenly seeing the wiring under the dashboard. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You start driving differently.
Conclusion
Illiteracy isn’t just about reading words; it’s about reading systems. People who demand endless explanations of racism while denying its existence are showing us how deeply the comprehension gap runs. They can “operate” racism without understanding its mechanics, just as they can drive a car without knowing the engine. But understanding is not optional if we want a just society—it’s essential. Policies that seem neutral can be profoundly anti-Black once you trace their effects. The literacy crisis isn’t just a side issue; it’s one of the hidden pillars of systemic racism. To break the cycle, we need to teach not just reading but comprehension, not just driving but mechanics. Only then can we move from unknowing participation to conscious transformation.