Bible Study Series | For the Benefit of Others | Lesson 13 | The Right to Literacy and the Blueprint of Public Education

Imagine a time when picking up a book wasn't just a challenge, it was a crime. For generations, the ability to read and write was kept under lock and key, reserved only for those with the right status or the right complexion. Punishment for enslaved people reading or writing included brutal whippings (often 20–39 lashes), severe beatings, amputation of fingers or toes, imprisonment, sale to harsher owners, and sometimes death. Anti-literacy laws, particularly after the 1831 Nat Turner Rebellion, deemed educating slaves an "unlawful assembly," punishing both the learner and the teacher. But there was a fire in the hearts of those who had been denied everything; they knew that if you could own your mind, you could eventually own your future. They didn't just fight for their own literacy; they pioneered the framework for Universal Public Education, breaking the "elite-only" model that had governed this land for centuries. They wanted to make sure that no child, regardless of where they came from or how much money their parents had, would ever be left in the dark again.

Israel, it is time to look past the hollow education of the heathen and see the valuable evidence of your own genius mind. We have been taught to view the public school system as a gift from the heathen, but history reveals a different verdict. The very infrastructure that allows a child to ride a yellow bus or a first-generation student to walk across a stage was forged  by the hands of former slaves.

1. The Revolutionary Act of the Book

During the years of slavery, literacy for slaves was unlawful. The system understood that reading and writing were dangerous to the Stockholm Syndrome.

• The Literacy Ban: Laws were enacted to ensure slaves remained in a state of ignorance, making the act of picking up a book a threat to the empire. Today, we are a threat to each other. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, yet our energy and substance is wasted on foolishness and evil; chasing money, fame, likes, and views. We live in an era where ‘dumbing down’ is popular. 
• The Hidden Schools: During slavery, our ancestors held secret classes, proving that the desire for knowledge could not be extinguished by the whip, but today, our people are illiterate by choice. Most of the ones who are literate are “educated fools” by choice. Choosing to embrace the education of the slavemaster that teaches us to be intellectual sharecroppers instead of producing for ourselves.
• Owning the Mind: They realized that physical chains were secondary to the chains of the mind. To read was to begin the Exodus before the physical doors were ever opened. To read, also, is the key to returning back to the Laws of Elohim.

2. The Reconstruction Blueprint: Building for the Benefit of Others

When the physical chains were loosed, former slaves did not just seek integration; they sought to build a nation. They were the primary architects of the American public school system during the Reconstruction era.

• Demanding State-Funded Schools: It was the Hebrews in state legislatures who demanded that education be a right funded by the state, not a luxury for the elites.
• The Framework for the Many: This struggle tore down the walls of a "members-only" society. The educational infrastructure we see today was planted in the "rough soil" of our suffering, yet it became the bridge for every immigrant group and working-class family that has sought upward mobility in this land for over a century.
• Intellectual Sharecropping: Despite building the system, our people have often been relegated to "intellectual sharecroppers” within it, forced to learn the heathen’s history while their own history is hidden.

3. Literacy Today

The defunding of America’s public school system has profound consequences for Hebrew (Black) children, who are among those who benefit most from the resources these schools provide. This shift in funding and teacher demographics often leaves these students in environments with fewer resources and less representation.

A. The Diversion of Public Funds

Rather than investing in the traditional public school system, significant portions of taxpayer dollars are being redirected toward alternative educational models:

• Charter and Private Schools: Enrollment in public charter schools more than doubled between 2010 and 2021, while traditional public school enrollment decreased.
• Voucher Programs: Modern voucher programs can divert billions of dollars away from public education, often serving as subsidies for families who could already afford private tuition. 
• Targeted Resource Loss: Schools with 90% or more students of color spend an average of $733 less per student per year compared to schools that are 90% or more white. 

B. Self-Segregation and Private Academies

There is a long-standing pattern of utilizing private and church-based institutions to maintain segregated learning environments:

• Historical Context: Many private schools in the South were established or expanded specifically to evade desegregation mandates following the Brown v. Board of Education decision. 
• Religious Schools: Private church schools have often shared the purpose of maintaining mostly white classrooms, utilizing their unique constitutional protections to preserve these spaces. 
• Modern Vouchers: In states like North Carolina, private schools originally founded during the desegregation era are now receiving millions in public dollars through modern voucher programs. 

C. Representation in the Classroom

Despite a diverse student body, the teaching force remains overwhelmingly white, creating a significant demographic gap for Hebrew children:

• Teacher Demographics: In the 2017–18 school year, approximately 79% of all public school teachers were White, while only 7% were Hebrew (Black).
• Demographic Disparity: At schools where the majority of students are non-White, the majority of teachers still tend to be White. 
• Impact on Expectations: Research has indicated systematic bias in teacher expectations, with non-Hebrew (Black) teachers often holding lower expectations for Hebrew (Black) students compared to their Black counterparts. Israel, remove your children from these state-funded pipeline to prison systems. They only benefit the heathen teachers.

4. The Fruit of the Seed: Literacy as a National Duty

When you see the fruit of education today, you are seeing the legacy of those who refused to remain silent.

• The Graduation Stage: Every first-generation student walking across a stage is a living testimony against the heathen that tried to keep us illiterate.
• The Open Door: Because our ancestors refused to be "manageable minorities," the doors of opportunity were swung wide for every person who calls this land home today.
• The Turning: Now, the call is to "turn" that literacy back toward the Tanakh. We must use the tools of reading and writing not just to serve the infrastructure of the heathen, but to document our Book of Remembrance as we prepare to rebuild our nation.

The Conclusion: From Literacy to Liberty

The right to read was bought with the blood and determination of a people who knew that they were more than slaves. They proved that education is not a luxury, but a bridge. However, the heathen has taken the system we built and turned it into a “leech” that extracts our intelligence while teaching us that we are colors, and bywords. 

The 400-year clock has run out. This nation is stripping away the "hollow benefits" of the current system. It is time to take the literacy we fought for and use it to read the Decrees of YAH. Stop using your mind to renovate America and start using it to chart the path home.

Elohim still loves you, Israel. The call remains the same: Choose Life, Choose Blessing, Choose Undivided Devotion. Repent, Return, and be free from the shadows.

I hope this blog post has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. Shalom qodesh qadasheem - the “set apart ones.”