NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A fascinating and eye-opening look at how American schools have
helped build and reinforce an infrastructure of racial inequality . . . a must-read for every
American parent and educator.”— Esquire “Though the argument of this book is bleak it
illuminates a path for a more just future that is nothing short of dazzling.”— Oprah Daily
“This book will transform the way you see this country.”—Michelle Alexander author of The New
Jim Crow AN ESQUIRE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL If
all children could just get an education the logic goes they would have the same
opportunities later in life. But this historical tour de force makes it clear that the opposite
is true: The U.S. school system has played an instrumental role in creating and upholding
racial hierarchies preparing children to expect unequal treatment throughout their lives. In
Original Sins Ewing demonstrates that our schools were designed to propagate the idea of white
intellectual superiority to “civilize” Native students and to prepare Black students for
menial labor. Education was not an afterthought for the Founding Fathers it was envisioned by
Thomas Jefferson as an institution that would fortify the country’s racial hierarchy. Ewing
argues that these dynamics persist in a curriculum that continues to minimize the horrors of
American history. The most insidious aspects of this system fall below the radar in the forms
of standardized testing academic tracking disciplinary policies and uneven access to
resources. By demonstrating that it’s in the DNA of American schools to serve as an effective
and underacknowledged mechanism maintaining inequality in this country today Ewing makes the
case that we need a profound reevaluation of what schools are supposed to do and for whom.
This book will change the way people understand the place we send our children for eight hours
a day.
