The Mis-Education of the Negro

Carter Godwin Woodson’s The Mis-Education of the Negro is a social critique that addresses the inherent structural and institutional racism represented by the United States education system. Originally written and published in 1933, this study guide refers to a republication of the text from 2010 by IAP (Las Vegas, Nevada). The book traces Woodson’s arguments regarding how the United States education system reproduces White supremacy and fails to educate Black students; this failure, Woodson contends, is the central reason that Black citizens cannot uplift their communities and find success in United States society.

The thesis of the text is that United States schools are failing to educate Black people, both in terms of obtaining professional careers and in terms of supporting the larger Black community to be economically sustained. Woodson undergirds this argument with several supporting ideas: that teachers in schools that serve Black students cannot achieve this task due to their racist belief systems; that schools themselves aren’t designed to truly prepare students for professional careers; and that the curriculum in schools is inherently racist and thus perpetuates racial inequities.

Another important thematic element of Woodson’s text is his description of how various intersecting institutions are related to the racist failure of schools in the United States. Woodson describes how Black churches have negative impacts on their communities, whether as the result of individualistic, uneducated preachers or as the result of theology built with White supremacist thinking and colonialist ideas. Similarly, Woodson describes the limitations of colleges and universities to prepare Black students for successful careers, both because of racist curriculum as well as racist treatment in those institutions.

This study guide utilizes the term “Black” to refer to people whom Woodson describes as “Negro.” Woodson explicitly chooses to use the term “Negro or black […] in referring to this particular element because most persons of native African descent approach this color” (102) and does not wish to “[run] away from the name” (103). By using “Black,” this study guide adheres to Woodson’s original intent without using the potentially offensive or inaccurate term “Negro.”