What is *The Mis-Education of the Negro* about?

*The Mis-Education of the Negro* critiques how early 20th-century American education systems indoctrinated Black students with Eurocentric values while erasing African American history. Carter G. Woodson argues this perpetuates systemic oppression by teaching Black individuals to undervalue their cultural identity, urging reforms like curriculum inclusivity and self-reliance. The book remains a foundational text on racial equity in education.

Who should read *The Mis-Education of the Negro*?

Educators, historians, and anyone studying systemic racism or African American history should read this book. It’s also vital for those exploring how education shapes cultural identity. Woodson’s analysis of institutionalized bias offers timeless insights for activists and policymakers addressing modern equity gaps.

Is *The Mis-Education of the Negro* worth reading?

Yes—Woodson’s 1933 work remains pivotal for understanding how systemic racism operates through education. Its critique of cultural erasure and advocacy for self-determination resonate in modern discussions about curriculum reform and social justice. The book’s historical context and prescriptive solutions make it essential for anti-racism education.

Who was Carter G. Woodson?

Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) was a historian, author, and founder of Black History Month. The son of formerly enslaved parents, he earned a Harvard PhD and pioneered the academic study of African American history through works like *The Mis-Education of the Negro*. He’s often called the “father of Black history”.

What are the main themes in *The Mis-Education of the Negro*?

Key themes include: - **Cultural indoctrination**: Schools teaching Black students to devalue their heritage. - **Systemic oppression**: Education’s role in perpetuating racial hierarchies. - **Self-reliance**: The need for Black-led institutions and curricula. Woodson ties these to economic disenfranchisement and social marginalization.

What does “mis-education” mean in Woodson’s book?

“Mis-education” refers to an education system that trains Black individuals to internalize white supremacy and reject their cultural identity. Woodson argues this creates a “devil’s bargain” where academic success requires complicity in one’s own oppression.

How does *The Mis-Education of the Negro* address Black leadership?

Woodson criticizes “educated Negroes” who emulate white elites instead of addressing their community’s needs. He advocates for leaders rooted in African American experiences who prioritize collective uplift over individual assimilation.

What solutions does Woodson propose in the book?

Woodson urges: - Creating Black-centered schools and curricula. - Elevating African American history and cultural contributions. - Fostering economic independence through vocational training aligned with Black community needs.

The Mis-Education of the Negro

Carter G. Woodson

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Overview of The Mis-Education of the Negro

Published in 1933, Woodson's revolutionary critique of Euro-centric education remains shockingly relevant. What inspired Lauryn Hill's Grammy-winning album title? This enduring manifesto on educational inequality continues to fuel movements for inclusive learning - required reading that still challenges America's racial narratives nearly a century later.

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Chapter 1

The Miseducation that Shaped a Nation's Consciousness

Carter G. Woodson's groundbreaking work stands as one of the most influential texts in African American intellectual history. Published in 1933 during the depths of the Great Depression, this powerful critique of American education became a cornerstone of Black consciousness movements throughout the 20th century. Malcolm X cited it as transformative to his thinking, while civil rights leaders from Martin Luther King Jr. to modern activists have drawn from its analysis. The book's enduring relevance is reflected in its continuous publication for nearly a century and its status as required reading in African American studies programs nationwide. What makes this work so revolutionary is Woodson's unflinching examination of how education can function not as liberation but as a sophisticated form of control-a thesis that challenges us to question how knowledge itself is constructed and transmitted across generations.

Chapter 2

The Systematic Miseducation of Black Americans

The core problem Woodson identifies is not the lack of education for Black Americans, but the fundamental nature and purpose of that education. The Negro educated in traditional schools receives philosophy that is mere propaganda, deliberately designed to maintain social hierarchies while wasting time and misdirecting development. This education system, developed by and for the oppressor, has historically justified slavery, segregation, and lynching through carefully constructed curricula that present these injustices as natural or divinely ordained. The genius of this system lies in its psychological control: "By controlling the Negro's thinking, you control his actions-he'll find his 'proper place' without being told." This manipulation extends from elementary school through higher education, affecting everything from history textbooks to literature selections. This miseducation creates a profound and tragic internal conflict that shapes entire lives. The "educated Negro" has been systematically taught to despise his own race, culture, and heritage while simultaneously being reminded at every turn that he cannot truly join white society. As Woodson explains, they become "equipped to begin the life of an Americanized white man" but must return to "their own people" as both social and bisocial beings-serving their country while staying "in a Negro's place." With no practical training or emotional preparation for this contradictory role, graduates often grow bitter and disillusioned, becoming chronic fault-finders rather than constructive forces in their communities. This psychological burden manifests in various ways: self-hatred, cultural alienation, and a persistent sense of inadequacy. Even seemingly neutral subjects like mathematics, Woodson argues, reveal the system's fundamental flaws. Negro children from migrant tenant homes need specialized arithmetic instruction that reflects their lived experiences, unlike white children from merchant families who naturally absorb business concepts in their daily lives. This failure to contextualize education creates professionals who cannot effectively serve their communities. Business administration graduates, trained in abstract theories of large-scale commerce, often despise small-scale entrepreneurial opportunities within their communities, such as selling peanuts or operating local shops. Meanwhile, foreign merchants recognize and capitalize on these overlooked opportunities. Similarly, journalism schools prepare students for positions at major newspapers that maintain rigid racial barriers, leaving them ill-equipped for the specific challenges and opportunities of Negro weeklies and community publications. The ultimate result is an educated class caught in a devastating paradox - trained to imitate whites while simultaneously being convinced through subtle and overt means that such imitation is either impossible or improper. This systematic miseducation renders them of service neither to themselves nor to whites, leaving them with severely limited professional outlets, primarily in teaching and preaching. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of educational inadequacy, where even those who recognize the system's flaws find themselves trapped within it, unable to effect meaningful change. The "blind alley" Woodson describes is not just professional but psychological and social, representing a fundamental barrier to genuine progress and self-determination.

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Chapter 3

The Historical Roots of Educational Control

Negro education after the Civil War began as philanthropy, since freed people couldn't expect help from former owners who emerged as victims of the sectional conflict. The Freedmen's Bureau and philanthropic agencies established programs teaching "simple duties of life" through churches and schools, believing Negroes would qualify as citizens once they learned to perform duties other Americans had prepared for. Despite brief participation in Reconstruction government that brought democratic education to the South, Negroes remained economically enslaved and disconnected from practical life. When industrial education swept the country, it sparked a generation-long dispute between Northern missionary teachers defending liberal education and those promoting practical training. Unfortunately, most Negroes received neither proper industrial nor classical education-industrial schools lacked factory-level equipment and their graduates faced union barriers, while classical education produced malcontents unable to apply advanced knowledge in a society restricting them to lower spheres. The pre-Civil War educators and post-war missionary workers were sincere but possessed more enthusiasm than knowledge. They aimed to transform rather than develop Negroes, following traditional curricula that either condemned or pitied the race. Geography textbooks promoted racial hierarchy through selective imagery-depicting whites as distinguished poets, Native Americans as bedecked chiefs, browns as proud warriors, yellows as princes, and blacks as savages with nose rings. Science education similarly eliminated African contributions, ignoring ancient Africans' knowledge of poisons, durable colors, and metallurgy. Students weren't taught about Egyptian embalming chemistry developed by those now called "colored people." African languages were dismissed as dialects to be scorned rather than studied for their historical significance. Literature excluded African thought entirely, while fine arts education omitted African influence on Greek civilization. This systematic erasure of African achievement created an education system that trained Negroes "to be white" while simultaneously convincing them this was impossible or improper-a contradiction that has produced generations of internal conflict and wasted potential.

Chapter 4

Education Under Outside Control

While we honor the early Christian missionaries who established schools for Negroes after the Civil War, as well as progressive Southerners who believed in helping people help themselves, their modern successors have proven ineffective in Negro education. These pioneering missionaries, including members of the American Missionary Association and the Freedmen's Bureau, laid crucial groundwork by establishing institutions like Howard University and Fisk University. However, the contemporary leadership of these institutions has often fallen short of their founding principles. White presidents of Negro institutions frequently possess fewer academic credentials than the Negro faculty serving under them, creating a troubling power dynamic that undermines educational quality. These administrators, constrained by both legal restrictions and entrenched social customs, remain unable or unwilling to fully engage with Negro life and culture. This disconnect creates a profound gap between leadership and the communities they serve. The social barriers maintained by white educators manifest in numerous demeaning ways. They might acknowledge Negro colleagues with cursory greetings on campus while deliberately avoiding them in other social settings. Many refuse to host Negro faculty or students in their homes, maintaining rigid segregation in their personal lives. Some even perpetuate humiliating practices like requiring Negro students to use separate entrances or maintain physical distance during interactions. Students and faculty who endure these indignities without protest often become what can only be described as "downright cowards," effectively remaining in psychological bondage despite their technical freedom. Critics often mischaracterize advocates of Negro self-direction as opponents of interracial cooperation. This fundamentally misunderstands the nature of true cooperation, which must be founded on equality and mutual respect, not paternalistic oversight. The current system, where white administrators make decisions behind closed doors for Negroes to implement, represents control rather than cooperation. When Negro leaders do advance to positions of influence, they face implicit and explicit pressure to avoid advocating for social equality or democratic privileges, effectively neutering their potential impact. The common argument that Negroes lack necessary fundraising connections and capabilities is thoroughly debunked by examining historical successes. Leaders like Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee, R.R. Moton at Hampton, John Hope at Atlanta University, and Mordecai W. Johnson at Howard University have demonstrated remarkable ability to secure financial support and build institutional strength through their own initiative and leadership. Authentic education should empower individuals to analyze and improve their circumstances, but current college instruction has largely produced frustrated graduates without practical strategies for social change. The recent establishment of four new Negro universities in the South presents a critical juncture - these institutions could either mark a transformative moment in educational development or become costly failures if they simply mirror white institutions without addressing the unique challenges and aspirations of Negro communities. Success will require careful attention to curriculum design, community engagement, and leadership selection that prioritizes both academic excellence and cultural understanding.

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Chapter 5

The Failure to Learn to Make a Living

The greatest indictment of Negro education is its fundamental failure to teach the essential skill of making a living in the real world. While rural Negroes have maintained their agricultural knowledge through generations of practical experience, the formal education system provides knowledge that has little practical application in industry or business where competition is increasingly fierce. The "mis-educated" Negro, despite years of schooling, often emerges unprepared to face economic challenges or offer viable solutions to employment issues within their community. Current educational practices have created a dangerous disconnect, putting Negro minds out of harmony with life's economic realities. This disconnect manifests in numerous everyday examples: Students working their way through college by polishing shoes never consider studying leather production or business management to elevate their trade; children of skilled mechanics rarely pursue engineering degrees to build upon their fathers' practical foundations; daughters of washerwomen graduate without applying their chemistry knowledge to modernize and expand family laundry businesses. Meanwhile, astute white professors frequently resign from prestigious academic positions to profit from untapped Negro markets that college-educated Negroes themselves consider beneath their newly acquired status. The contrast between white and Negro educational outcomes is stark. White youth enjoy numerous opportunities regardless of their field of study, but Negroes cannot afford such luxury of random education in a society that limits their options. This reality is powerfully illustrated in the case of a young woman who left high school to successfully run a fruit stand with her mother, building it into a profitable enterprise, versus a highly educated man with multiple degrees contemplating suicide due to chronic unemployment. This man, educated away from practical business realities, spends his time criticizing existing Negro enterprises while never investing time, money, or effort in building them up. Many "highly educated" Negroes, taught by professors with no practical business experience, have absorbed and perpetuate the belief that Negro businesses are inherently destined to fail. They actively circulate negative reports about Negro enterprises, creating self-fulfilling prophecies that damage community confidence. However, careful investigation reveals that Negro businesses demonstrate comparable strength to others with similar capitalization levels - their primary weakness lies not in management or operations, but in insufficient support from their own community, often undermined by these same educated critics. The paradox emerges clearly: the "uneducated" Negro businessman often succeeds where the "mis-educated" one believes success impossible. Business administration departments in Negro colleges are failing in their fundamental mission to produce practically-minded graduates. Instead, they create entitled workers who demand high starting salaries without experience, reject commission-based work opportunities that could lead to business ownership, and lack the entrepreneurial courage to build businesses from the ground up. This educational failure perpetuates a cycle of dependency rather than fostering economic independence and community wealth building.

Chapter 6

The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses

One of the most damning evidences of higher education's failure among Negroes is their systematic estrangement from the masses upon whom genuine social progress ultimately depends. The Negro church provides a stark illustration of this phenomenon - while the vast majority of Negro communicants belong to evangelical churches that emphasize emotional expression and community bonds, the more formal education Negroes receive, the more they distance themselves from these traditional institutions, finding less spiritual and social comfort in these spaces that once united the community. This abandonment proves particularly tragic because the Negro church remains the race's greatest collective asset and the only institution Negroes fully control without external interference. Unlike educated whites who typically maintain connections with their communities and work deliberately to elevate struggling members of their race through various social programs and initiatives, educated Negroes increasingly abandon their underprivileged brethren, creating a widening social gulf. In the realm of business, the lack of capital, commercial experience, and established networks prevents large-scale economic undertakings, while educational institutions remain firmly under outside control through funding dependencies and administrative oversight. The Negro's religious expression has largely been borrowed from white denominations, and though the church organization maintains nominal independence in its operations, it remains intellectually and doctrinally dominated by the oppressor's theological framework and social assumptions. "Educated" ministers, seeking status and sophistication, steadily drift away from the masses, while illiterate but passionate preachers who genuinely serve the people lack the theological training and intellectual tools to develop their own distinctive doctrine. Rather than engaging in independent theological thinking, Negroes have historically adopted religious practices in "chameleon-like fashion" - following Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and other denominational traditions as they appeared in their communities. This pattern of imitation has led to unnecessary fragmentation within the Black religious community - thirty exclusively Negro denominations exist alongside numerous Negro congregations within white denominations, creating a complex web of competing loyalties. This fragmentation results in wasteful duplication of leadership structures, with an excess of ministers and supervisory officials dividing rather than uniting the community. The "theology" commonly taught in these institutions often traces its roots to pagan origins, primarily developed by applying Aristotelian logic to religious discussions, and has historically been used to sanctify various social injustices, including the practice of segregation and racial hierarchy. This borrowed theological framework has inadvertently reinforced the very systems of oppression it should challenge.

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Chapter 7

Professional Education Discouraged

Negro professional education beyond ministry and teaching has been deliberately limited, with any failures attributable more to white educators than to Negroes themselves. White teachers have consistently portrayed professions as "aristocratic spheres" inappropriate for Negro aspiration. Those who crossed this boundary were often deliberately starved out by whites who refused to treat them as professionals, making it impractical for Negroes to employ them where they couldn't function effectively. This oppression taught Negroes to discourage their children from certain professions, claiming they'd have no opportunity. Many professional schools in Negro institutions closed around 1890-1900, particularly law schools-ironically shuttered during the wave of anti-Negro legislation when legal knowledge was most needed for civil rights protection. This represented profound "stupidity or malevolence" from those managing Negro schools. Negro professionals faced deliberate obstruction, as when a white attorney in Huntington refused to work with a Negro lawyer on a simple property transfer, stating he would only deal with the client directly because as a Negro schoolteacher, he was "in his place." Similarly, Negro doctors, dentists and pharmacists struggled to convince even their own people of their competence because whites had declared them incapable. In music and dramatics, Negroes have been told their natural talents make training unnecessary, limiting their development. A member of an Episcopal church objected to spending $1,500 on music for Negro communicants, believing their "natural gifts" required no training. Few Negro colleges offer music education, reflecting the belief that Negroes need only traditional curricula. Despite natural acting talent, Negroes have been relegated to "dancing, joking, minstrelsy" rather than trained for serious dramatics. Only about six Negro actors have achieved greatness, with most ending up in questionable entertainment venues that brought "disgrace" rather than prestige. Only those who pursued proper training have endured, demonstrating the failure of Negro education in areas where success was possible.

Chapter 8

The Loss of Vision and Political Education

History reveals that the Negro's miseducation leads him to follow the path of least resistance rather than fight for what's right. A mind confined to the ghetto never develops true thinking capacity, lacking both clear understanding of the race's status and foresight to plan for its future. The Negro's education thus becomes a perfect control mechanism, with the oppressed ironically championing their oppressor's cause. Comparing race spokesmen of Woodson's time with those of the eighteenth century reveals a profound moral surrender. During the American Revolution, Negro soldiers insisted on serving alongside whites; now many accept menial military roles. Eighteenth-century Negroes preached to integrated congregations and rejected social distinctions; today's Negroes actively separate themselves and disavow desires for social equality. When free Negroes were advised a century ago to go to Africa, they refused to abandon their enslaved brethren, citing bonds of "consanguinity, of suffering, and of wrong." When colonizationists tried to deport free Negroes like Richard Allen and James Forten, they defiantly claimed America as their rightful home, declaring "Here their fathers fought, bled, and died for this country and here they intended to stay." Now, many Negroes sell out their race for personal gain. Political education has been deliberately neglected. When Congressman Oscar De Priest distributed copies of the Constitution, critics mocked him, unaware that thousands of Negro children are forbidden from using textbooks containing the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. Their history lessons mention Jefferson and Madison merely as political figures rather than champions of liberty, and they're not taught that Jefferson believed government derives power from the consent of the governed. After the Civil War, opponents of freedom created a program to enslave the Negro's mind since physical enslavement was no longer possible. This propaganda program rewrote history, portraying slavery as benevolent, abolitionists as meddlers, the Civil War as unnecessary, and Negro citizenship as a mistake. Even Northern historians adopted these views, ignoring scholarly works that exposed slavery's true nature through court records.

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Chapter 9

The New Program: A Path Forward

Our current educational system has led us backward toward serfdom rather than forward to freedom, making it imperative to develop new leadership through a different educational approach. We must revolutionize our denominational schools, which currently function as liabilities rather than assets, bleeding people for inadequate support while failing to provide accredited education. We shouldn't close accredited Negro colleges, but must reconstruct the entire system. While maintaining subjects like mathematics, practical languages and science, we need radical reconstruction in theology, literature, social science, and education. The old theories justifying exploitation must be discarded for new thinking about human brotherhood. Negro students should study African folklore, proverbs, and Negro writers alongside Shakespeare and Chaucer. Rather than focusing exclusively on European despots, they should study African history, Negro economics, and sociology addressing the problems of Negro communities. We must discover what the Negro's background truly is, what his possibilities are, and develop his latent powers instead of cramming his mind with others' achievements. Effective education requires understanding people before teaching them. We must teach complete history, honoring both mainstream figures like Washington and Jefferson while also studying Negro soldiers of the American Revolution, writers like Phillis Wheatley, and inventors like Benjamin Banneker. The Negro needs a new figure in politics-one focused on self-help rather than external assistance. This New Negro won't waste time with ineffective White House pilgrimages but will appeal to local allies who believe in social justice. He won't allow his vigor to be frittered away in partisan strife or permit political bosses to manipulate community leaders with small payments. The Negro should be a figure in politics, not a tool for politicians, acting independently rather than parking all votes on one side. When such Negroes take office, they won't restrict themselves to race-specific legislation but will address the entire social and economic order.

Chapter 10

Understanding the Value of Heritage and Identity

Only one Negro in ten thousand studies what their race has thought, felt, and accomplished, while the majority spend millions learning about other races and trying not to be Negroes. This neglect stems from the belief that Negro history is unimportant. The oppressor has always taught that real history belongs to the powerful, while concealing that the Negro has contributed significantly to human progress through domesticating animals, discovering iron, developing stringed instruments, advancing fine art, and inaugurating trial by jury. By teaching the Negro he has no worthwhile past and can achieve nothing significant, the oppressor controls his thinking and behavior. The Negro must critically examine the fundamentals of education, religion, literature, and philosophy to determine whether these forces bless him or his oppressor. Some "highly educated" Negroes believe changing terminology-from Negro to something else-will solve racial problems. This peculiar psychology reflects how the "highly educated Negro mind" often concerns itself with trifles rather than substantial problems. What matters isn't what something is called but what it is. The Negro wouldn't cease being who he is through renaming; rather, by struggling, achieving, and contributing to modern culture, the world would recognize him as an American rather than an undeveloped population element. There's nothing gained by fleeing from the name. Nearly all racial and national names have at times connoted low status-even Angles, Saxons, and Greeks experienced this. However, these peoples made their names illustrious through achievement, and Negroes must learn to do the same. Woodson concludes with a powerful observation about embracing one's natural attributes: "We have the prettiest people in the world when dressed in harmony with our rich endowment of shades and colors." European artists now try to change their hue to match colored people, understanding how inexpressive white skin can be. The path forward lies not in rejecting one's heritage but in understanding its value and building upon it to create a future of dignity and achievement.

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Key Themes in The Mis-Education of the Negro

psychological colonization
institutionalized racism
curriculum bias
cultural alienation
intellectual self-determination

Quotes from The Mis-Education of the Negro

By controlling the Negro's thinking, you control his actions.
The Negro educated in traditional schools receives philosophy that is mere propaganda.
This miseducation creates a profound and tragic internal conflict.
They aimed to transform rather than develop Negroes.
This systematic erasure of African achievement created an education system that trained Negroes "to be white".

Characters in The Mis-Education of the Negro

Carter G. WoodsonAuthor and historian who critiqued education
Malcolm XLeader who cited the book as transformative

About the Author

Carter Godwin Woodson (1875–1950), acclaimed historian and pioneering author of The Mis-Education of the Negro, is revered as the “father of Black history.”

This seminal work critiques systemic inequities in education and cultural identity, themes rooted in Woodson’s journey as the son of formerly enslaved parents and his groundbreaking academic career.

After laboring in West Virginia coal mines, he earned a PhD from Harvard University—becoming the only child of enslaved parents to do so—and founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. His creation of Negro History Week (1926), now Black History Month, cemented his legacy as a champion of African American scholarship.

Woodson’s influential works, including The Negro in Our History and A Century of Negro Migration, established frameworks for studying Black contributions to global history. A relentless advocate for education reform, he authored over 30 books and edited the Journal of Negro History, which legitimized African American studies as an academic discipline.

The Mis-Education of the Negro, first published in 1933, remains a cornerstone text in sociology and education, widely taught in universities and cited in contemporary discussions on race and equity.

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Chapter 4

The Mis-Education of the Negro

OverviewOverview of The Mis-Education of the Negro

One book. Many ways to hear it.

The Miseducation that Shaped a Nation's Consciousness

The Systematic Miseducation of Black Americans

See every word as you hear it

The Historical Roots of Educational Control

Education Under Outside Control

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The Failure to Learn to Make a Living

The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses

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Professional Education Discouraged

The Loss of Vision and Political Education

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The New Program: A Path Forward

Understanding the Value of Heritage and Identity

You made it to the end of The Mis-Education of the Negro

Key Themes in The Mis-Education of the Negro

Quotes from The Mis-Education of the Negro

Characters in The Mis-Education of the Negro

About the Author

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1,000,000+ curious minds.

1,000,000+ curious minds.

One book. Many ways to hear it.

The Miseducation that Shaped a Nation's Consciousness

The Systematic Miseducation of Black Americans

See every word as you hear it

The Historical Roots of Educational Control

Education Under Outside Control

Get more out of The Mis-Education of the Negro

The Failure to Learn to Make a Living

The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses

See every word as you hear it

Professional Education Discouraged

The Loss of Vision and Political Education

Get more out of The Mis-Education of the Negro

The New Program: A Path Forward

Understanding the Value of Heritage and Identity

You made it to the end of The Mis-Education of the Negro

Users also liked

Discover more

Overview of The Mis-Education of the Negro