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

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

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Esquire, Elle, Chicago Public Library • LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL

If all children could simply get an education, the logic goes, they would have equal opportunities later in life. But this historical tour de force argues the opposite: the U.S. school system has played an instrumental role in creating and maintaining racial hierarchies, shaping expectations of unequal treatment from an early age.

In Original Sins, Ewing shows that American schools were designed to reinforce ideas 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; Thomas Jefferson envisioned it as an institution that would preserve the nation’s racial hierarchy. These patterns, Ewing argues, persist today in curricula that minimize the violence of American history and in structural mechanisms such as standardized testing, academic tracking, disciplinary policies, and unequal access to resources.

By revealing how deeply these systems are embedded in American education, Ewing argues for a fundamental rethinking of what schools are meant to do—and for whom. This book reshapes how readers understand the institutions that educate children for eight hours a day.