“Benefit, Necessity, and the Next Day”

Title“Benefit, Necessity, and the Next Day”
Year for Search1971
AuthorsShears, Carl L[ee](1937-79)
Tertiary AuthorsSaggittarus, [pseud.]
Secondary TitleNiggers and Po’ White Trash. Stories
Pagination11-23
Date Published1971
PublisherNuclassics and Science Publishing Co
Place PublishedWashington, DC
KeywordsAfrican American author, Male author
Annotation

The story is a discussion between the President and a senior adviser, who is black, prior to the following law going into effect. “Any parent or parents, who are declared functionally or totally illiterate by a test administered by the Health, Welfare, and Education Department of the United States Government, without regard to race, color, or creed, will be placed in an education center for the purposes of bringing their reading and writing level up to the standards of the nation’s. Their children will be placed in an appropriate children’s home. If after a two-year period the parent or parents have not reached the necessary level, they will be sterilized and placed in an urban reservation for the mentally deficient for the rest of their lives. From that day forward, all rights as citizens will be forfeited. The parent or parents then become wards of the state” (22). The senior adviser believes that the law will mostly effect blacks. Another story in the same volume, “If There Is a Knock” (38-47) is about how the law affects poor blacks. See also 1971 Shears "That Day," 1973, 1974, 1975 (2), and 1978 Shears.

Pseudonym

Saggittarus [pseud.]

Holding Institutions

PSt

Author Note

The African-American author (1937-79) was a physicist who turned to writing about social issues. 

Full Text

1971 Shears, Carl L[ee] (1937-79). “Benefit, Necessity, and the Next Day.” Niggers and Po’ White Trash. Stories (Washington, DC: Nuclassics and Science Publishing Co., 1971), 11-23. PSt

The story is a discussion between the President and a senior adviser, who is black, prior to the following law going into effect. “Any parent or parents, who are declared functionally or totally illiterate by a test administered by the Health, Welfare, and Education Department of the United States Government, without regard to race, color, or creed, will be placed in an education center for the purposes of bringing their reading and writing level up to the standards of the nation’s. Their children will be placed in an appropriate children’s home. If after a two-year period the parent or parents have not reached the necessary level, they will be sterilized and placed in an urban reservation for the mentally deficient for the rest of their lives. From that day forward, all rights as citizens will be forfeited. The parent or parents then become wards of the state” (22). The senior adviser believes that the law will mostly effect blacks. Another story in the same volume, “If There Is a Knock” (38-47) is about how the law affects poor blacks. See also 1971 Shears "That Day," 1973, 1974, 1975 (2), and 1978 Shears. The African-American author was a physicist who turned to writing about social issues.