Former President, Lyndon Baines Johnson once said “A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance.” His quote held a profound amount of veracity but countless individuals have seemed to miss that important statement. Now, cell phones consume today’s young generation. They captivate and enchant them in the digital spell called technology. Just as our late and former President predicted, as people read less, it seems as if intolerance and ignorance grow even more. There once was a time when an amazing book allured people and had the effect that technology now has. There is plenty of evidence that literacy skills continue to decline. U.S. government data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that after years of educational reforms, high school seniors scored worse on a national reading test than they had back in 1992. Fortunately not all hope is lost for our future generations. Writers like…show more content… The wound that racism pierced onto this country is still fresh and tender. The agonizing pain still lingers, although this wound was cut awhile ago. The pain from this wound gave Coates the inspiration to write his book on the breakdown of racism. The book initially may seem like it will reveal the falseness behind the “Dream” and then open up a possible conclusion of the new United States. But Coates does not decide to go in that direction. He rejects the American “fable” but also embraces the certainty of white supremacy and it's inevitable constraints. It is the story of the black body, beaten down to create the country's foundational wealth, then violently segregated to unite a nation after a civil war, and, to this day is still threatened, locked up, and killed in our
