In Original Sins: The (Mis)Education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, sociologist and educator Eve L. Ewing presents a searing examination of how the U.S. education system perpetuates racial hierarchies. Ewing argues that, contrary to the ideal of schools as equalizers, schools have enforced white supremacy, aiming to “civilize” Native students and prepare Black students for subservience.
Ewing explores the systemic mechanisms that uphold these inequities, such as standardized testing, academic tracking, and disciplinary policies that disproportionately affect Black and Native students. She shows how these practices are embedded in the very framework of the educational system.
Ewing illuminates the enduring legacy of the “original sins” of genocide against Native people and the enslavement of African people in contemporary schooling. She explores not just how to change schools, but how to see their transformation as part of the larger struggle for societal change.
Introducing the metaphor of hair braiding — a practice central to Black and Native traditions — Ewing emphasizes that just as strands are woven together to create strength, education should be an interwoven process that draws from multiple histories and cultures. Ewing pushes us to rethink not just schooling, but the structures of power and inequality that shape it. [Rethinking Schools description.]
ISBN: 9780593243701 | One World
Praise
Original Sins will transform the way you see this country. With a clear, unflinching voice, Ewing challenges us to ask new questions about our own educational experience and our children’s, starting with the pledge of allegiance first thing in the morning. — Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
Eve L. Ewing is not only a remarkable writer, she is also a singular educator. In Original Sins, she makes clear how our country’s schools have intentionally configured the contemporary landscape of inequality. Exhaustively researched and exquisitely written, Original Sins is breathtaking. — Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed
Eve L. Ewing, one of the twenty-first century’s greatest intellectuals, proves that racism, colonialism, and carcerality started in the school. By reckoning with the violent, dehumanizing history of Black and Indigenous schooling, Ewing finds in the resistance of students and renegade teachers a path toward a life-affirming education. — Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams
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