Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

Ewing’s text joins a conversation surrounding education that has been ongoing for decades. The primary discourse centers on systemic racism, whether specifically in America’s school systems or more broadly in society. As Ewing argues in Original Sins, the US has created a system where expectations for Black and Indigenous children are low, with control and docility as its primary goals. 

In 1969, the United States released its first Nation’s Report Card, which identified what would become known as an achievement gap between white and non-white students. As Ewing explains: “[T]his is presumed to be the central problem of the education system in our country, conveniently quantifiable and plainly visible: The Minorites Are Doing Badly. How badly, and how do we know? Very badly, we are told, and we know because of test scores” (97-98). Since then, scholars have researched this gap in a variety of ways, examining both modern and historical sources to attempt to address the failing education system. In Original Sins, Ewing engages with these texts, historical data, and prevailing theories—while also adding her own insights and ideas to the discourse on race and education.