I got up the courage to ask, “Miss, it’s not true, is it? Black people could read and write? They could, couldn’t they?” She shook her head sadly and said, “No. I’m sorry, honey. They couldn’t.” I left with my head down. She never explained to me or to the class that it was illegal during slavery to teach the enslaved to read and write. It was a way to keep them subjugated.
