"Sponsors of Literacy"

Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook. Cushman, Ellen. et al. New York: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2001

In Brandt’s "Sponsors of Literacy", she explains how the. She starts out by defining sponsors of literacy as those in her study that came up most frequently as influences on her subjects’ literacy development. These people consisted of relatives, teachers, clergy, authority figures and authors. Brandt theorizes that literacy is defined by the interest of its sponsors. This in turn affects the way and reason why people read and write. She goes on to describe how literacy has political and economic value. This being true, many Americans go through great lengths to obtain literacy for their families. Because literacy plays such a huge role in our economic system, a sort of stratification regarding literacy emerges, and roadblocks are placed in front of certain individuals to gain literacy in the name of competition. Brandt explains her theories by citing two individuals she studied.
Raymond Branch belonged to the “majority-race membership, male gender, and high-end socioeconomic profile”. Because of this, Brandt explains, Branch had more access to literacy than his counterpart of the same age that lived in the same town Dora Lopez. She also explains that the difference in access has to do with the difference in the level of sponsorship available in both situations.
Brandt’s account of how economy and sponsorship affect literacy is quite striking and I found quite a bit of truth. Most people recognize the sponsor’s role in literacy, but rarely recognize economic influence. Sponsors are either congratulated or blamed for any one individual’s literary competency. If one is unable to read critically or write effectively, this is blamed squarely on the sponsors and the efforts and abilities of the individual are seemingly disregarded. I also agree with Brandt’s theory that the interest of the sponsor is reflected in the capacities in which an individual is successful in literacy, as well as how and why they read and write. In school, reading and writing are seen as a means to an end of economic accomplishment and intellectual growth. In church, literacy is seen as a means of spiritual and personal growth. In the home, literacy is seen as a way to connect to your own culture. Whichever sponsor is the most influential usually has a hold on how and why that individual will read and write. Brandt’s theories on how economics influence literacy can be seen in our society. Socioeconomic status can play a huge role in access to literacy. Socioeconomic status is often determined by race and gender, contrary to the capitalist thought that everyone chooses their socioeconomic status through work ethic. It is clear that those apart of the dominant culture have more access to literacy than those who are not. Teachers don’t want to teach in low socioeconomic areas because of the crime rate and behavioral problems due to broken homes. Those that are supposed to be literacy sponsors in the community find little importance in literacy, as most of their employment only requires the basics and nothing more. This creates literary roadblocks for those belonging to different social and economic groups, and severely limits access to literacy.