Systems work exactly as they are designed to. This is a great, thoroughly researched book about how the ills of the American education system are a feature and not a bug. As someone who studies education policy, much of the information was not new (but I did learn!), but it was presented in a new way that clearly shows how the system has actually never changed.

If you are an educator, I implore you to read this book. If you are actively trying to decolonize your bookshelf, I implore you to read this book. If you are exhausted by these times in which we live, I implore you to read this book. These are not unprecedented times. The injustices of today are very precedented. The systems in which we operate were built this way. Eve L. Ewing's meticulously researched book does a deep dive into how American schools were built from the start: with the intention to support the oppression and erasure of Black and Indigenous students. This book is a challenging yet important read, and while much of what was discussed in this book was not new to me, I still learned SO much from the author and her research. While I had to work my way through this book slowly due to the heavy content, I appreciated the way Ewing divided the research into sections that are easy to understand even if you have no preexisting knowledge.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

I feel fortunate to be living in the same timeline as Eve L. Ewing, and to have access to non-fiction books such as these that frame the historical trauma that the US project has inflicted on Black and Indigenous people. As an educator, I really appreciated the current and localized examples used to describe larger ideological themes. I will be purchasing this book for my educator friends and comrades because I know this will bring value to every shelf it ends up on.

This was a very well researched history of the US education system. Overall was a mix of information I already knew with some new information sprinkled in but a good in depth start for someone who isn't as involved in education and DEI work as I am.

Original Sins was an incredible read. I learned so much about the "Education" of black and Native children throughout the centuries in the US and how messed up and racist it all was (And continues to be)! Excellent on audio, she has a ton of footnotes for further study.

Eve L. Ewing’s Original Sins is a powerful exploration of how American schools have historically upheld racial hierarchies, disadvantaging Black and Indigenous children. Through sharp analysis and compelling storytelling, she connects past injustices to present inequities, challenging us to rethink education’s role in systemic racism. It is a must-read for educators in America and abroad.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced readers' copy!

This needs to be required reading in teacher preparation programs.

Too frequently, teacher preparation programs do not discuss the history of racism in education. It's a feature, not a bug. Education in the United States has a long history of racist policies and actions. From the boarding schools designed for genocide to segregated schools where all-white schools had the most money and best of everything to today's schools where BIPOC children are disproportionally punished, racism has infused and still infuses education in many places.

Those who deny it tend to perpetuate it. In order to make the education system more equitable, the system itself needs to be critiqued and redesigned. Those who make decisions need to critically examine the assumptions underlying their decisions and look at the impacts on different groups, especially minoritized groups.

White teachers, we need to do better for our BIPOC students. Read this book with an open mind and willingness to critically examine your own thoughts, beliefs, words, and actions. Then read it again. And again.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Eve Ewing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Original Sins, by Eve Ewing, argues that US schools uphold white values and society. Dr. Ewing, a former middle school teacher in Chicago and a graduate of Harvard School of Education, uses meaningful historical and contemporary stories as examples of how US schools - by design since their inception - devalue Black and Indigenous people in order to erase their knowledge, culture, and language. The compelling stories are followed by data and arguments from scholars to form well-supported theses about: schools as systems to perpetuate racism; use of tests of intellect and standardized test; the school-prison nexus; and the role of schools in perpetuating economic inequality.

I work in education, and much of my work focuses on advancing educational equity. Yet, I still found new ideas in Original Sin. The section about the school-prison nexus, which contains graphic descriptions of race-based violence, was particularly compelling. The stories, data, and scholarly ideas are focused on how routines, rituals, and punishments in schools are designed to undermine independence and autonomy for Black and Indigenous children with a goal of making Black and Indigenous children obedient and docile members of society.

Ewing uses Original Sins to clearly explain - with varied sources of support - why US schools are under-serving Black and Indigenous children. In the conclusion, Ewing acknowledges that Original Sins is short on specific ideas for improvement, suggesting we find “spaces of possibility”. We can acknowledge how we’ve hurt each other (including how Black and Indigenous people have hurt each other), find power and solidarity in collective struggle, and organize in ways that make sense in unique communities and spaces.

Although it includes data and contributions of, primarily, Black and Indigenous scholars, Original Sin is an approachable text ideal for those seeking to understand why we must - especially in the current political culture - continue to imagine and redesign US schools.

When I was in college, I took a class on the history of American education. As a Black woman who grew up in mostly private schools, my parents were very critical of public education, even though they had both been educated in that system in New York City during the 1950s. When I had my own child, I mimicked that push toward private education here in Los Angeles.
I believe there are numerous intersectional issues—many of which this book explores, and some it doesn’t—that lead me to think the system was never designed to work for us. In a way that is uniquely American, we tend to dismantle anything we have to share with 'others.'
This book was challenging to read. It introduced texts I had never encountered, ones that were never taught in the countless history classes I took, that didn’t so much shock me as they deepened my understanding of how awful things truly are.
I keep a short list of books I share whenever I want to highlight what I see as the truth about American history. I'll be adding this one to that list.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House One World for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I very much like the author's poetry and was looking forward to this book about our education system. It is a inquiry into our schools and education system by questioning if education makes it possible to do better in life/work or if it really is designed to keep in check all the inequalities that has been part of the US history from the beginning. The author goes through all the history such as the Founding Fathers vision, pledge of allegiance, standardized tests, residential schools. and comes to the conclusion that they have been created to uphold the ideas of white culture and superiority. As an educator and expert in the field, the author's knowledge and skilled writing definitely made me think about our education system differently. A highly recommended read!

Wow. So amazing, so well researched, so deeply thought, well researched, and simultaneously accessible to any reader. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in it and even those who aren't.

Thanks to NetGalley and One World for the ARC of this title.

What is school _for_? Is the way the American school system fails children of color and Native American children something that's broken, or something that's working the way it's been designed?

What an absolute banger of nonfiction. Eve Ewing clearly and elegantly lays out her thesis and then proceeds to walk through all of the relevant historical information to make an extremely persuasive argument. I absolutely devoured this.

Original Sins is an unflinching and unapologetic unveiling of the racial history of our American school system. From holding a magnifying glass over some of the nation’s most prestigious universities’ ties to slavery to connecting the dots on how many educational processes came to be, “Sins” dives deep into the when and how of public educations’ ties to systemic racism.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into with this book. In my mind, I envisioned a few onion layers deeper into the more - quote unquote - commonly referenced points of history where race meets education (I.E. Brown vs. Board, etc.) What I got was so much more valuable. This book wriggles deep into where the tiers of racial imbalance within education really started while also interweaving the greater impact society had on education, and, in turn, education had on society. Eve L. Ewing takes us on a journey of the “science” that backed the decisions still impacting education today and the racism that supported the methods. Beyond all of that, she shows us how the injustices began and how they continue to play out.

Original Sins is an accessible history of how deep racism is rooted in our education systems and how they perpetuate it. As a fan of Ewing, I have been looking forward to this book's release for months and I hope it gets the attention and love it deserves. I highly recommend Original Sins to everyone involved in education.

Quick Summary: An education and a revelation

My Review: Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing is a non-fiction/history work. It is scheduled for release on February 11, 2025.

About the Book: "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...

Ewing makes the case that we need a profound reevaluation of what schools are supposed to do, and for whom."

My Final Say: This is an exceptional work. It is brutally honest and entirely sobering. It is impressive and deserves to be celebrated for its merit.

Sadly, I am all too familiar with the message this book addresses. As an educator, curriculum developer, multicultural studies advocate, historian, and citizen, I have actively researched and reviewed the historical documents and been made aware of the unique perspectives offered up by the few regarding the many. The establishment of hierarchical systems, the "morally sound" justifications and excuses, the righteous narrative to displace and distress those who exist beyond the "superior" - these concepts are not foreign. With that said, I must say that this braiding together of information was remarkable. It is put together so well. By allowing the words, writings, and actions of those, from this nation's forefathers forward, to speak, much is said.

Not only do I highly recommend this book, but I also applaud anyone who has the courage to read it, receive it, and grow from it.

Thank you, Dr. Ewing. Your work is brilliant and very much appreciated.

#lookingback #lookingforward

Other: This should be required reading for MS, HS, CL, and more. It would be ideal for a book club or non-fiction history discourse community.

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: All
Favorites Shelf: Yes
Besties Shelf: Yes
Status/Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Heartfelt appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher (Random House Publishing Group - Random House | One World), and to NetGalley. Thank you so much for granting access to a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest critique. The thoughts and opinions that I have voluntarily shared are my own. I am grateful for the opportunity you afforded me.

Fuck. This was sad, but also so informative and timely in the chaotic times we’ve seen to find ourselves in, in 2025.

Original Sins talks of the ways in which various programs such as buying a house, enrolling in educational programs, succeeding in life and in one’s we’re generationally set up to isolate and ignore the likes of people of color and native communities.

I think EVERYONE should read this novel, for it really provides some insight into the structural difficulties that this country was built upon, promoting segregation and discrimination is several aspects of life.

I am very thankful to PRH Audio, Eve Ewing, Netgalley, and One World Books for granting me advanced access before this collection hits shelves on February 11, 2025.

Original Sins is an incredible piece of work, and Eve L. Ewing did an immense amount of research to create it. This book analyzes the education system through the lens of how we have treated/attempted to control Black and Native children. The history of how colonial America came to interact with Black and Native peoples is very different -- one was stolen from their land and brought here and the other colonized -- but Ewing was able to see how colonists' actions in pursuing white supremacy resulted in similar or analogous results for both of these populations. It's extremely eye opening, and a truly well fleshed-out thesis.

This book will have you cringing and hurting. Ewing does not hold back from the racist language used by the people involved in these plans, nor does she hold back in how these racist thoughts and ideologies persist to this day. It is not an easy read, but it is a necessary one. I find it fitting that Michelle Alexander blurbed this book, because I hope this book will become to education what The New Jim Crow was to the criminal 'justice' system. This work should have educators, parents, and people who just care about equality thinking how we can pursue education differently, in a way that will truly benefit Black and Native children.

I have already recommended this book to numerous people, and I will continue to do so. An absolute must read.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow - I loved this! Will definitely be pushing for website blog posts / staff pick lists. I think it would be a good book club pick too. Heavy information but still accessible. Ewing's voice shines through!

This is an extremely impressive work of history and cultural studies. The book is well organized and packs in a lot of information in just under 300 page (the other 100 pages are notes/bibliography). While the book is dense (so much history in here) the skill of the writing and structure help the reader stay focused and rooted in the narrative Ewing puts forth. This isn't a book to speed through but to study and reflect on. This is for parents, teachers, students, and anyone who cares about education and racism.

Well-written, with many good points! Definitely well-researched and informative! Should be required reading for any education programs.