ERIC Number: EJ1394463
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0030-9230
EISSN: EISSN-1477-674X
Available Date: N/A
The Racialisation of Literacy: Educational Tests for Immigration Restriction in the United States, 1894-1924
Watkins, Christian; Rury, John L.
Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, v59 n4 p705-722 2023
The Immigration Restriction League (IRL) made literacy, and by extension education, a major aspect of immigration reform in United States in the early twentieth century. Appealing to an educated, conservative constituency, it promoted a literacy test aimed at systematically excluding "undesirable" immigrants. Literacy was initially treated as a learned skill, but eventually became linked to fixed, presumably heritable traits. The justification for requiring these tests was directly influenced by the growing Eugenics Movement. Literacy thus became intricately tied to an expanded conception of race and, consequently, the imagined worthiness of different ethnic and nationality groups. The 1917 Literacy Test Act, also referred to as the Immigration Act of 1917, limited migration to the United States and marked the IRL's eventual success. By that time, however, such tests had become seen as a proxy for presumably rigid, racialised, national characteristics, and the IRL pushed for even more restrictive measures. IRL members remained active beyond the First World War and contributed to the extension of immigration restriction policies in 1921 and 1924.
Descriptors: Immigration, Literacy, Public Policy, Racism, Tests, Ethnic Groups, Federal Legislation, Policy Analysis, History, Social Problems, Organizations (Groups)
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A