The Mis-Education of the Negro

“The author takes the position that the consumer pays the tax, and as such every individual of the social order should be given unlimited opportunity [to] make the most of himself.” 

One of Woodson’s core beliefs is that society is responsible for giving each individual opportunity, and that the “tax” for the individual is to then contribute, humbly, to the greater good. This is an important aspect of his arguments because it emphasizes society’s needs over those of the individual. In addition, Woodson’s early assertions that “every individual” should receive opportunities is important because all of Woodson’s arguments rest on the belief that Black people should be receiving the benefits of full citizenship.

“The mere imparting of information is not education.” 

Though Woodson frequently criticizes the US education system for its racist inferences and racist teachers, he also discusses the overall negative structure of schools in that they simply “impart” information rather than teaching students how to critically think. Later in the text, Woodson describes Black people who have received higher education but cannot examine their society and draw their own conclusions about it. Woodson believes it is the role of education to support students to develop in this way, and that the United States is currently failing in that regard. 

“The differentness of races, moreover, is no evidence of superiority or of inferiority. This merely indicates that each race has certain gifts which the others do not possess. It is by the development of these gifts that every race must justify its right to exist.”

Not every theorist would agree with all of Woodson’s beliefs about race and racism. In this particular assertion, which is noted in several places throughout the text, it is obvious that Woodson had some strong ideas about the differences between races yet also believed that there should not be a system of “superiority or of inferiority.