The Mis-Education of the Negro Themes

In his influential 1933 book The Mis-Education of the Negro, Black American historian and educator Carter G. Woodson argues that American schools and universities failed to meaningfully educate Black students during the decades following the Civil War. Like many scholars and activists today, Woodson sees racial inequities in educational access and achievement as a reflection of the U.S. education system’s bias in favor of white people and against Black people. In Woodson’s time, teachers…

In The Mis-Education of the Negro, which focuses on the period from the end of the American Civil War to the early 1930s, Carter G. Woodson argues that the U.S. school system doesn’t just fail to educate its Black students—it also actively oppresses them in order to preserve white people’s disproportionate power, wealth, and privilege. Namely, Woodson argues that the education system is a tool of social control based on convincing Black people of…

In The Mis-Education of the Negro, Carter G. Woodson’s primary concern is how Black Americans can overcome the barriers to their success—including the country’s ineffective education system—and advance as a community. Woodson defines this advancement as a movement toward economic self-sufficiency, political equality, and artistic achievement. However, he sees economic development as by far the most important of these goals. In addition to helping Black people build more vibrant communities for themselves, he…