Assessing The Miseducation Of The Negro Sociology Essay

In his book, The Miseducation of the Negro, Carter G. Woodson addresses many issues that have been and are still prevalent in the African American community. Woodson believed that in the midst of receiving education, blacks lost sight of their original reasons for becoming educated. He believed that many blacks became educated only to assimilate to white culture and attempt to become successful under white standards, instead of investing in their communities and applying their knowledge to help other blacks.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a prime example of Woodson’s argument on “miseducated” blacks. Although Thomas benefitted from programs like affirmative action, once he reached the high point in his career he supported legislature to end such programs. Hampton University and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities must take it upon themselves to teach their students the importance of contributing to their communities once they graduate and enter into the business world. Colleges like Hampton, Howard, Spelman and Morehouse have the opportunity to produce professionals that can restructure and save the black community. Students who graduate from these institutions have the resources and knowledge that are needed to revive the African American community and their economy. Black colleges must educate their students on the need for black businesses, role models and the importance of staying connected to their culture and community.

Clarence Thomas and the many blacks like him also contribute to the “class” rift in the black community. The many educated blacks who do not give back to their community are labeled as “sellouts” by their peers and family members who still remain in the “ghetto”. Their high levels of success cause them to lose the sense of responsibility that they once had for their former community. Those who remain on the less privileged, less educated side of the black community resent their peers who have degrees and white collar jobs. They feel that these successful black men and women no longer have a connection to where they came from. This “class” rift is not only limited to black adults, but occurs in school age children and teenagers. Many small black children who dress well and have high grades in school are made fun of and picked on by their less fortunate peers. Black high school students who drive nice cars and live in upper-class neighborhoods are sometimes labeled as “bourgeois” by their peers who come from working or lower class families.

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The contempt that is held amongst blacks is not only based on class and education, but can be found related to color and/or skin tone. Division among light skinned and dark skinned blacks dates back to slavery. On plantations the master used these skin categories to divide the house slaves and the field slaves. Since position inside of the house were easier and more comfortable , the slaves with lighter skin were envied by their darker peers who were given difficult outside jobs in the field. After slavery ended if your skin was light it made it easier for you to mix into white society. Many parents encouraged their light skinned children, especially daughters, to attempt to pass for white. Lighter skin gave you opportunities at better jobs, slightly fairer treatment, and if your were a woman it gave you a better chance of being courted by a respectable man. Lighter skin was a luxury, such a luxury that many families only married into other fair skin families in hopes that their children and future relatives would have the privilege of light skin.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s skin tone became directly related to your class level. Since lighter skinned blacks generally landed better jobs, families of lighter complexion generally had higher incomes and were seen as more successful over darker skinned blacks. On black college campuses like Hampton and Howard the lighter skinned students formed elite cliques and organizations. The first black sorority founded in the early 1900s on the campus of Howard University was said to only accept members with fair skin or dark skinned girls who came from prominent families. One of the black fraternities, which was founded at a white institution has also been accused of only offering membership to male students with light skin and “good” hair. Professional and family organizations like Jack and Jill of America, Inc. and Links, Inc. are also said to have members of elite backgrounds and/or fairer skins. Although these groups were founded almost a hundred years ago, the concepts and elitist attitude that they were founded on still exist.

Although there are prejudices that occur within the black community, discrimination towards blacks from out side groups is still a problem. Racism is one of the main topics from Woodson’s book that still has relevancy today. Racism has evolved since slavery and whites have found subtle and discrete ways to keep blacks as the inferior groups. Examples of passive racism are turning black families down for home loans, only giving acceptance to top universities and colleges to small numbers of blacks and allowing predominately black grade schools to provide inadequate education to their students. Many blacks are also discriminated when applying for jobs and promotions at large corporations. A black man in particular, may have a tough time when applying for high-level position although he has the credentials and experience needed. Woodson discusses this problem in The Miseducation of the Negro when he talks about there being no type of education or training that can guarantee blacks job opportunities.

Although discrimination is apparent in the work place, some blacks are being hired at top levels in technology and business fields. Many companies have diversity departments that are used to recruit minorities. Many large corporations like Nationwide, Lockheed Martin and Johnson & Johnson recruit on HBCU campuses like Hampton and Howard. Pressure on large corporations from organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have caused these companies to attempt to find and hire African Americans for some of their top level positions. Although blacks are being hired in the field of technology, the community is lacking knowledge and resources in this area. The majority of white families have computers in their homes and are connected to the internet, while very few black families see the need to invest in these resources. Black families would rather purchase a big screen television than invest in a home computer. As far as technology is concerned, the majority of the black community is behind its white counterparts. However, there are some of us who have invested in the latest computers and devices. The majority of black college students have computers, scanners, cd writers, fax machines, palm pilots and of course cell phones. Unfortunately these technologically savvy group of blacks will most likely end up in the “sell out” group discussed earlier. It is likely that these college students will become successful business men and women, lawyers, doctors and even supreme court justices like Clarence Thomas. They will have prestigious job titles and it is possible that they will also have elite attitudes that will prevent them from reaching out to the communities in which they were born. Like Clarence Thomas, they will not see a need for programs that may have helped them. After all, they don’t need them anymore, so why should anyone else?

Reading Woodson’s book The Miseducation of the Negro raises the question- Now that we have identified the problems, where so we go from here? As a group we have discussed in depth the issues in the book and have each developed an opinion on the future of the black community.

Kieth Christie: My opinion on the question where do go from here is that I think we should keep pressing on for what we think is right, and not let society bring us down. I feel we as black people need to stick together and keep on supporting each other. We need to get passed the lines that divide us, so that we can fight the things that are against us. If we are against ourselves then we cannot defend ourselves from outside enemies.

Tiara Ballard: Racism against Blacks and other groups won’t disappear because it has always been here. The question is how can we decrease and educate ourselves on it. That’s what Woodson ultimately wants us to realize and put into action My answer to resolve the racism against Blacks’ issue is to heal the ‘racism within Blacks’ issue. African Americans as a whole are going to have to begin to love themselves and then spread it to others with the same background. Most importantly we need to learn how to support each other in everything we do. If we learn anything for the White Man, we could at least learn about how he treats his own kind.

Johnica Garrett: In order to better ourselves, we must recognize and identify the problems within our community. Once this is done, we must be willing to work on these areas. We must implement programs that encourage unity within our communities. There are rifts amongst all groups of people, but the key is to not let these divisions be apparent to your enemy. An example of this is the unity America is portraying to the rest of the world right now. Despite the many problems we have within our country, our government realizes that we must at least appear to be united in the eyes of enemy. The black community needs to grasp the importance of strategy and competition. We must try twice as hard as anyone else in school and work to prove that we are at least their equals.