Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mis-Education of the Negro, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Education
Mis-Education as Social Control
Failures of Black Leadership
Business and Economic Development
Summary
Analysis
In an interview, a professor at a historically Black college tells Woodson that his university curriculum does not cover much Black history or literature, as Black people haven’t accomplished very much throughout history. He argues that focusing on Black issues alienates white people and hurts Black students’ chances in society. For Woodson, this shows that even Black professionals have accepted the idea of Black inferiority. Rather than contributing to Black communities, these professionals assume that Black people can only improve their status if “an executive force” acts on them from the top down.
By pointing out that even historically Black colleges don’t teach Black history and literature, Woodson establishes that Black studies isn’t taken seriously as an academic discipline. This sets the stage for his argument in favor of Black studies throughout the rest of the book. He connects Black people’s invisibility in college curricula to the misleading ideas that Black students learn in school and popular culture. For instance, the principal thinks that Black people have no meaningful history and that their success depends on integrating into white society, rather than building strength in the Black community. But when Black professionals instead invest in top-down “executive” leadership, Woodson has argued, they contribute to the community’s fragmentation and weakness.
Themes
Woodson reiterates his central argument: the education that Black people receive in the U.S. enslaves their minds. Black people are invisible in public schools’ curricula because teachers fear that it’s too dangerous to discuss “the race question.” When white students first learn about race in college, they have often already decided that non-white people are inferior. In reality, white people also need a different kind of education about race in order to become responsible members of society.
Mis-education and inequality reinforce each other in a vicious feedback cycle. Mis-education prevents Black people from overcoming inequality. But because racial inequality is so blatant, talking about racism becomes a taboo, so nobody truly learns to fight it. Woodson also argues that education about race is just as important for white students as Black students. He doesn’t just want to reform the curricula in Black schools: he wants all students to learn about Black life and history, so that they can learn to value Black people as equals and work together for social change.
Themes
Woodson finds it astonishing that Black colleges teach endless courses about Europe’s history, philosophy, art, and music, but virtually none about Africa’s. Just like Catholic and Jewish Americans, Black Americans should teach their children about their own heritage. But in the current system, “education” for Black students means learning about other groups’ accomplishments and aspiring to imitate them. This kind of education has prevented Black students from recognizing or developing their own capacities. Different groups, generations, and even individuals have different needs—but by focusing on other people’s experiences and accomplishments, Black people miss their own.
Historically Black colleges teach a European-focused curriculum because they are based on two inaccurate and outdated models: the model of education as the accumulation of knowledge and the model of white colleges that teach mostly white students about a specific European tradition. Woodson points to other minority groups’ successes in educating their youth about their own collective traditions in order to show that Black Americans can do the same. Of course, he doesn’t think that people should only learn about their own group’s history—but he does think it’s essential for them to value their own group alongside others.
Themes
Black history is a rich topic absolutely worthy of study. In fact, Woodson calls the story of African enslavement “one of the greatest dramas in history.” But this story has scarcely been explored. Just like other oppressed groups derived art from their experiences, Black people can produce a whole body of art, literature, and music based on their history. Instead, they are busy imitating white Europeans’ art. In the 1930s, educators are starting to introduce children to literature that portrays Black people in a positive light. But Woodson thinks that Black people have a ways to go in terms of redeeming their history through art and literature, as “while the Negro has been idle, propaganda has gone far ahead of history.”
Beyond depriving Black youth of an education, racism has also limited scholarly work about Black history and creative work based on Black experience. Where others insist that Black Americans’ history is meaningless or irrelevant, Woodson affirms its value for the Black community, the U.S., and the human race as a whole. Rather than being ashamed of their ancestors’ enslavement, Woodson hopes that young Black people can instead feel inspired by those ancestors’ resilience and struggle against injustice. And he believes that such an appreciation for history can lead young Black people to appreciate their community, value themselves, and develop their own creative abilities. In turn, he hopes that their creative work will eventually allow them to reinterpret the history they have learned and redefine Black American identity in a positive light.
Themes
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