The Mis-Education of the Negro

One of the core arguments of Woodson’s text is that public schools in the United States are completely failing to educate Black students; further, Woodson is of the firm belief that this is intentional and by design. Several times in the text, Woodson describes the effectiveness of schools of “control[ling] a man’s thinking” to keep Black people in a subordinate position; that because they have learned inferiority via schools their “education makes it necessary” (15) for them to remain below White people in society.

Woodson is careful to justify this argument with several examples and explanations, including calling into question the character and training of public school teachers as well as to explore many of the inaccuracies present in public school curriculum. In addition, Woodson suggests that because of the institutional racism that Black people encounter beyond a primary or secondary school education, US schools would have to be actively providing a different kind of curriculum and training than what they purported to offer at the time the book was written.

Though the title of the book implies a “mis” education, it seems that Woodson’s real argument is that this “mis-education” is only an education into the culture of the oppressor; he does not believe there is any positive to what is taught in schools.