"The most imperative and crucial element in Woodson's concept of mis-education hinged on the education system's failure to present authentic Negro History in schools and the bitter knowledge that there was a scarcity of literature available for such a purpose, because most history books gave little or no space to the black man's presence in America. Some of them contained casual references to Negroes but these generally depicted them in menial, subordinate roles, more or less sub-human.
There were included derogatory statements relating to the primitive, heathenish quality of the African background, but nothing denoting skills, abilities, contributions or potential in the image of the Blacks, in Africa or America. Woodson considered this state of affairs deplorable,
an American tragedy, dooming the Negro to a brain-washed acceptance of the inferior role assigned to him by the dominant race, and absorbed by him through his schooling."
Such books stressed that Blacks should be thankful for their good fortune at having been exposed, through slavery, to the higher (white man's) civilization.
Introduction to Carter G. Woodson's, "Mis-Education of The Negro"
by Charles Wesley and Thelma Perry
Believe it or not, I have friends that believe, to this day, "thank goodness for slavery! Otherwise we would be starving in Africa." I remember teachers who would explicitly tell us that black/African people suffer because of the “curse of Ham.” Then they would point their finger around the world and say..."see the condition of black people? That's my proof."
ReplyDeleteHowever, be aware, that this type of explicit assault on a black child's psyche is not the worse form of abuse, even though it may come from a teacher, a "power figure" whom the child holds in great esteem. That's because it is easily seen, and can be dealt with outright. The worse form of assault is the subliminal suggestions in our education system, and confirmed in society and the media, which causes a child to come to the same conclusion, implicitly. That is the worse form of brainwashing, because the child is unaware that the conclusions he has come to, has been diligently crafted, implanted, and nurtured from outside sources, working in unison, to keep him in his place of subservient reverence for white society.
That is why we as Israelite parents MUST be intimately involved in our children's education, inside and outside the classroom, from the very start so we can help them filter through the countless explicit and implicit assaults, which seek to rob our bright, beautiful, children of the truth of who they are, and their true potential.
Since we are in the New Egypt, Babylon, Greece and Rome of the modern world (America) and have entered the New Age of Time that the old Prophets/Prophetess talked about ( the industrial, mechanical, utilities, atomic/nuclear, chemicals, electronics: the Technological Age ) it is good that black American Israelites educate our childrens at home, in schools and in our own institutions whenever and where ever we can. Shalom.!
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