33 pages • 1 hour read
Carter WoodsonThe Mis-Education of the Negro
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1933A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “Understand the Negro”
Woodson articulates the assignment of Black people “to the lowest drudgery” (73) and how educational programs have advanced this belief. Because “a Negro with sufficient thought to construct a program of his own is undesirable” (73), there are no avenues towards true education or advancement available to Black citizens in the United States. Worse, the education that has existed as “been largely imitation resulting in the enslavement of [the Black person’s] mind” (74). This failure of the education system means that Black people have not been taught to think or to uplift their communities.
Woodson also critiques how history has been taught so that the enslavement of Black people is praised, and the economic and philosophical achievements of Whites and Europeans is lauded despite the fact that these same societies were responsible for the oppression of others. As Woodson describes, “propaganda has gone far ahead of history” (77) and there is a need to rectify this by providing truthful education.
Chapter 14 Summary: “The New Program”
In Chapter 14 Woodson begins to lay out his argument for a revolutionized version of education that could change “the social order for the good of the community” (78). This new education must give attention to “the study of the Negro as he developed during the antebellum period” (79). In addition, Woodson specifically calls for the education of Black preachers so that they can effectively serve their congregants.
School curricula must also be revised to a “radical” (80) extent; Woodson describes the need to “find out exactly what the [Black person’s] background is, what [they] are today, what [their] possibilities are, and how to begin with [them] as [they are]” (81). In the conclusion of the chapter, Woodson assures readers that he is not suggesting that “any people should ignore the record of the progress of other races […] but complete such knowledge by studying also the history of races and nations which have been purposely ignored” (82). With a more well-rounded and less intentionally oppressive curriculum, Black people could receive an education and improve their situation in the United States.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Vocational Guidance”
One of the critical questions, to Woodson, is how Black people will rise to be successful in the professional sphere without effective training. In Chapter 15, Woodson argues that because “the education of the masses has not enabled them to advance very far in making a living” (83), Black people have been kept from genuine progress in social and economic ways. This is in large part, in Woodson’s opinion, due to the oppressive nature of schooling and the teachers themselves.
To change this, Black people must receive “instruction as to how enterprises can be made possible” in addition as to “how they should be apportioned among the various parts of the Negro community” (87). In other words, supporting better educational practices that teach individuals how to think must be combined with supporting those same individuals to have healthy economic habits in regards to making wise choices that benefit the entire Black community.
Chapter 16 Summary: “The New Type of Professional Man Required”
As Woodson explores new possibilities for Black people, he argues that there is uncharted territory for Black professionals if they were to begin learning how to address “the people whom [they] should serve and the problems they have to confront” (90) through their endeavors. Rather than going into business for “selfish purposes” (91), Black professionals should begin to “address themselves unselfishly” (91) to problems facing the Black community. In addition, Woodson believes that Black people should “undergo systematic training for those professions in which they have shown special aptitude” (92) and be willing to look for employment in other countries beyond the United States.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
Woodson explores a central aspect of his thesis as he moves into describing his “new program” and “new type of professional man” in this section of the text. In United States society, Black people face a double bind in which they lack representation and opportunity; in, turn this creates professional institutions in which there are no Black people to create that representation or opportunity for others. Worse, Woodson argues, the US education system makes it so that when an “educated” Black person does make their way into the ranks of professionals, their mind has been thoroughly warped by White supremacist thinking and they no longer want to turn back to their communities. To make a new program, Woodson argues both for a shift in curriculum as well as new avenues for professional development.
One of the most interesting underlying arguments in Woodson’s text is that true education can only take place when the teacher understands and responds to the student’s specific context and experience. Though he references this at several points, the point is highlighted in Chapter 16, which argues for a new mode of professionalism in which Black people identify problems in their community and have the training to address them. This harkens back to earlier in the text as Woodson argues that teachers in the South cannot understand the specific plight of their Black students; similarly, Woodson also provides examples of the need for Black lawyers and Black doctors who can act professionally to give adequate advice and care to the Black community.
