The Mis-Education of the Negro (Paperback)

~ Carter G. Woodson (Author) "THE "educated Negroes" have the attitude of contempt toward their own people because in their own as well as in their mixed schools Negroes are..." (more)
Key Phrases: social uplift, United States, Civil War, American Negroes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Originally released in 1933, The Mis-Education of the Negro continues to resonate today, raising questions that readers are still trying to answer. The impact of slavery on the Black psyche is explored and questions are raised about our education system, such as what and who African Americans are educated for, the difference between education and training, and which of these African Americans are receiving. Woodson provides solutions to these challenges, but these require more study, discipline, and an Afrocentric worldview. This new edition contains a biographical profile of the author, a new introduction, and study questions.

About the Author

Carter G. Woodson was the founder of Black History Week. He wrote The Negro in Our History, The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861, A Century of Negro Migration, and The African Background Outlined. He died in 1950. Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu is the author of Lessons from History and Restoring the Village. He lives in Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: African American Images; 1 edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913543705
• ISBN-13: 978-0913543702
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #775,974 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Must Read, October 1, 2001

By	Bakari Chavanu (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mis-Education of the Negro (Paperback)

This book ought to be required reading for every teacher, educator, administrator, and parents who intereact with children of African descent. Woodson's work helps us understand that African peoples are truely mis-educated. We largely receive an Eurocentric or White middle class, elitist education that by and large does not serve the needs of our communities. This mis-education creates a serious identity crisis on the part of African youth and it causes many Black "educated" middle class people to spend more time trying to reach the consumer American Dream rather than working toward a real self-determination agenda of African peoples. Thus it's of little suprise today that most African students never enroll in a course on African/African-American studies. In fact, these courses are becoming more rare in high school and colleges across the nation. Even with the current renaissance of Black literature in this country, the study of African/Black culture, politics, and spiritual life are rarely discussed. In Woodson's words: "Real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better, but the instruction so far given Negroes [and still today] in colleges and universities [and elementary and secondary schools] has worked to the contrary. In most cases such graduates have merely increased the number of malcontents who offer no program for changing the undesiriable conditions about which they complain. " Woodson's book is clearly not out-dated. In fact, it reads as if it were published last year, instead of 1933. I would like to close this response to Woodson's work with another classic quote from him: "If you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a person feel that he/she is inferior, you do not have to compel him/her to accept an inferior status, he/she will seek for it. If you make a person think he/she is a justly outcast, yoiu do not have to order that person to the back door, that person will go without being told, and if there is no back door, the very nature of that person will demand one."

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life-changing experience, January 28, 2000

By	Trabian - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Miseducation of the Negro (Paperback)

This book was written 60 years ago but 75% of it is amazingly relevant today! Dr. Carter G. Woodson is the historian who created Negro History Week which became Black History Month.

The most memorable qualities of this book are that it teaches the power of education. It illustrates how an improper education makes a people unfit to solve their own problems AND how a proper education leads to freedom. Read this. It could save your life.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book that every Black/Latino in the US should read, November 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mis-Education of the Negro (Hardcover)

I read this book in 1992 for a Black Studies program while attending SUNY New Paltz. Woodson's knowledge is as poignant today as it was in the 30's when he originally wrote the material. It is one book that post-reading, the reader comes away with a totally different perspective of Black thought. I highly recommend this book to every American, but especially to scholars interested in the historical disparities in U.S. educational system as it relates to African/Latino Americans today. Mis-Education of the Negro is a treasured classic within the pages of written history. Without this book, a large "chunk" of the puzzle concerning contemporary affirmative action policy debates would be amiss. Woodson offers much needed answers & solutions and encapsulates them in a style that is still very much relevant today. No doubt, 5 stars across the board!