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The Mis-Education Of The Negro
Dr. Carter G. Woodson
Published in 1933
"Political Education Neglected"
Chapter 9 Pg. 83
12 pagesThis chapter expresses the failure of a society to teach and educate its people through their environmental needs. In this chapter, we also see the Negro leadership in the role of imitator and as a person who does not think but does as he is told. The famous Woodson's quote about controlling a man's mind is in this chapter and quoted extensively below.
A. Negro children were not permitted to use books with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the U.S. in it because the Negro had to be kept in his place.
B. Since the Negro was not taught about these two documents, he had no way of knowing about them to participate in the political arena and in man cases, he did not vote for various reasons.
C. The new wave of history books were written to justify the ills of slavery and assured the superiority of the whites. Pg. 84
D. They felt by rewriting American History, they could further control the Negroes' mind. Pg. 84
E. "If you can 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 man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one."
F. The rewriters also contended slavery was good for the Negro etc., Pg. 85
G. The "educated" Negro was used as a tool by the whites to get Black votes and to spread good will about his candidacy. He may have been rewarded with a "Negro" job for his contributions. "An influential Negro in the South, then, is one who has nothing to do or say and advises others to follow the same course." (Just do as you are told) Pg. 90
H. Dr. Woodson cautions the Negro not to stake his whole future on politics. History does not support doing this. Pg. 94
I. The laws for voting and re-writing of history has retarded both races in their political education. Pg. 89
End of Chapter 9.
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