Long Road

Apparently Kevin Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, has joined up with a the “Indigenous Literacy Project.” It’s not clear from the article in the Australian what the project does except that they aim to get books into Indigenous communities.  Their website states that:

The Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) is a partnership between the Australian Book Industry and The Fred Hollows Foundation that raises funds to purchase and supply books and other culturally appropiate material to remote communities where The Foundation works.

I’m all for more books, sure (and I’m not sure what the other “culturally appropriate material is?). But the idea that more books = improved literacy is a bit off. Maybe they have other plans as well. Sure more books would help, but the idea of reading to your kids is still a pretty white, middle class socialization. I’m not suggesting that Indigenous parents don’t want to read to their children, but that there are other priorities in terms of social time. And on top of that, if the parents don’t read then more books won’t do a whole lot to improve literacy. The value behind this is that good parents read to their children. White folks had to be convinced of this in the 1950s and now it has become axiomatic. If there aren’t programs in place in libraries, schools, community centers, etc.–places where Indigenous parents feel comfortable being and learning themselves, then this is one more way in which Indigenous parents get perceived as lacking the necessary skills (desires?) to care for their children.