The above statement was written by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born of slaves in Virginia, Woodson was self-taught and eventually obtained his bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in history from Harvard, becoming the second African-American to receive this degree. Although he is the person who established African American history as a monthly celebration, he is best known for his groundbreaking tractate: The Mis-Education of the Negro.
The book spoke of the American educational system, with special reference to its paralyzing impact on African Americans. Mis-education from his perspective was a tragedy that relegated blacks to a brain-washed acceptance of the inferior role assigned by whites. 
W. E. B. Du Bois would experience this and continue these sentiments in his book, The Souls of Black Folk. Dubois saw race prejudice in the United States as a way for blacks to be “tolerated but they are not educated.” For both, this frequently ended up becoming a deep-seated insecurity leading to intra-racial strife between African Americans.
I wonder how these two great giants of pedagogy would describe African Americans today. Would they see how young African Americans’ lack knowledge and understanding of their history has led to a lack of self-confidence, self-respect and self-knowledge?
I think they would and would define the high levels of such as being factors of why self-hatred is increasing among our ranks daily. One only has to listen to how — even to this day — men and women speak of good hair versus bad hair, and often describe good looks and attractiveness as an attribute of those with lighter skin rather than darker skin. Yes, this too, is racial hatred, because the sad reality is that many of us still look at ourselves through the eyes of people who hate us.
–torrance stephens, ph.d.
Follow Dr. Stephens on his blog at rawdawgb.blogspot.com/ or twitter.com/rawdawgbuffalo.
