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
Since the existing system has failed to educate Black people, Woodson proposes building a new one. It should start with “a scientific study of the Negro from within,” which can identify what capacities Black people need to develop in order to succeed. Then, the new system should retrain professionals. Teachers should learn to truly understand their students’ lives and support children who fall behind, rather than ignoring them. Exploitative preachers should be replaced, and old-fashioned ministers should learn about their congregation’s personal lives and stories, then incorporate this knowledge into their preaching.
So far, Woodson has presented the problems with mis-education and established that the solution to these problems is a more effective education—which involves reforming the school system, building new colleges and universities, and developing a body of scholarly knowledge about Black life and achievement. Now, in the last quarter of his book, he presents a vision of what the Black community’s future can look like if it successfully invests in this new, better form of education. The new scholarly knowledge about Black history and culture will become the basis for training new educators and preachers to take a more positive view of Black people. In turn, these educators and preachers can pass down their knowledge to students and congregations. Eventually, the next generation of Black youth can learn to believe in their own potential and genuinely view themselves as equal to white people. In this way, Woodson thinks that the benefits of new scholarship can trickle down to help the community as a whole, while politics is failing to do the same.
Themes
Meanwhile, Woodson proposes that Black researchers should reorient their priorities. Black scholars should explore African influences on Black American culture, in order to counteract the dangerous myth that enslaved people had no meaningful traditions. Black preachers should reinterpret the Bible for themselves, and to support this work, Black churches should come together to open a few well-funded universities. (In the 1930s, there are too many religious universities, and they are too under-funded, so Black preachers and professionals go to white institutions instead.)
By studying the African roots of Black American culture, scholars can show Black Americans that their history is rich, meaningful, and not entirely defined by slavery. Woodson implies that Black people can start to believe in their own potential once they learn how their ancestors have succeeded in the past and become proud of their heritage. Meanwhile, by reinterpreting the Bible, preachers can develop a distinctive, original Black Christian tradition that serves their community’s needs (rather than continuing to copy white churches, which preach hierarchy and justify oppression). Finally, because the Black church is the strongest existing institution in the Black community, Woodson argues that it should be the launching pad for new universities that can dedicate themselves to researching Black life and history, then teaching educators and the public about them.
Themes
Woodson emphasizes that he doesn’t want to close down existing schools or erase the existing curriculum entirely. Rather, he wants to reform these institutions and programs so that higher education becomes a route to critical thinking and public service, rather than wealth. In particular, the social sciences, the humanities, and theology need to be reformed, as their curricula are still based on the oppressive ideas that white people have used to justify slavery and oppression. Black students should study Africa’s literature, philosophy, and folklore in addition to Europe’s. In history, anthropology, and sociology, they should look at African people’s perspectives and experiences. They should study economics in order to help develop businesses and wealth in the Black community. In all subjects, education for Black students must start with Black people’s specific situations, backgrounds, and potential.
Just like Woodson thinks that it’s possible to turn Black churches into a force for good, even though they’re mostly corrupt in his day and age, he also thinks that it’s possible to transform schools. Thus, he strongly believes in reform, not revolution. In this way, even though he’s very pessimistic about the education system’s effects, he’s optimistic about its ability to change through the Black community’s hard work. Importantly, he also doesn’t think that centering Black life and history in the curriculum requires erasing white life and history from it. On the contrary, he thinks that students ought to learn about both—as well as other cultures and traditions in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to essentially founding the discipline of Black American history, Woodson is also envisioning the kind of diverse education that the modern-day discipline of ethnic studies promotes.
Themes
Woodson offers some examples of how education can effectively take students’ experiences and identities into account. For instance, before going to China, a missionary leader named Dr. De Forest told his students to spend years learning about the people’s history, customs, and language before trying to convert them. Meanwhile, when the U.S. took control of the Philippines, highly-educated American teachers simply failed to inspire teach Filipino children with their American curriculum. But a wily and empathetic insurance broker succeeded by talking to his students about objects and historical figures that they knew, instead of distant ones from the U.S.
Woodson’s examples show that effective teachers really start out as learners—they have to understand their students before they can effectively teach them. However, if they’re willing to put in this work, teachers of any race and background can successfully adapt their lessons to students of any race and background. (Of course, in the U.S., anti-Black racism and segregation make it difficult—but not impossible—for white teachers to do this successfully.) While Woodson obviously thinks that teachers have to know the curriculum, he really sees empathy, open-mindedness, and humility as the most important traits of an effective teacher.
Themes
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Of course, Woodson emphasizes that it’s also important for people to learn about the achievements of other groups. He just thinks that non-Europeans need to get more emphasis, as they’re often entirely ignored in the curriculum. For instance, he doesn’t think that George Washington or Thomas Jefferson should be removed from the curriculum: rather, he thinks that important Black figures should be added to it, like the poet Phillis Wheatley, the astronomer Benjamin Banneker, and the numerous Black troops who fought in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Woodson wants educators to approach American history, literature, and politics from a more diverse perspective. In doing so, they don’t just teach their students to appreciate Black people’s contributions to the nation. They also show their students that the U.S. is fundamentally a multiracial country—in which all groups have made significant contributions—and that everybody deserves equal political rights. Therefore, as an educator, Woodson wants to give all American students this multiracial vision of the U.S., in addition to helping Black students develop and harness their own potential.
Themes
