He challenges his readers to become autodidacts and to "do for themselves", regardless of what they were taught: History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning.

He also shows how black teachers are often no help in fixing the problem as they continue to teach white-washed versions of history to the future generations of students.

“The program for the uplift of the negro in this country must be based upon a scientific study of the negro from within to develop in him the power to do for himself what his oppressors will never do for him.”[2] Chapter 5—“The Failure to Make a Living” highlights a lot of the problems that Black people who attend college face when presented with how to apply that knowledge to the working world, or more specifically owning and operating a business.

One of the main problems that Woodson introduces is the lack of support systems that many black Americans don’t have, especially when compared to those of a similar standing who happen to be white.

"[4] Woodson also lays out a brief history of other times when African Americans were kept from learning about laws that govern their everyday life and the policies that were keeping them subservient.

Chapter 11—“The Need for Service Rather than Leadership” describes the stifling of African Americans’ ambition and roadblocks that keep them from becoming leaders.

In Chapter 12—“Hirelings in the Places of Public Servants,” Woodson brings up the lack of African Americans in positions of power in the workplace.

Woodson brings up many examples of African Americans put in management positions not being given the same respect and attention their white counterparts are given, and why this is.

He seems to take issue with many black doctors and their motivations for going into such work: He says, “Too many Negroes go into medicine and dentistry for selfish purposes, hoping thereby to increase their income and spend it on joyous living.

Woodson believed that African Americans should not just focus on themselves and address only issues that apply to them, but should address issues that apply to everyone Chapter 15—“Reward the dead for some distant favors from the past”  Woodson tries to inform African Americans that because their ancestors were influenced by—and died—for certain rights in the past does not mean those ancestors’ political leanings should be continued in the present.

Ron Daniels, with the Michigan City said, “Carter G. Woodson, one of our most distinguished historians, and the founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, was convinced that the dilemma of racial consciousness and identity was not an accident.

[...] Our history, culture and identity should serve as a basic for a group cohesion, and the collective pursuit of an African-American agenda for moral, social, economic and political advancement.”[9] Another had to say, “The result was a caustic and uncompromising litany that seemed to go on forever.

Negro education, Woodson charged, clung to a defunct “machine method” based on the misguided assumption that “education is merely a process of imparting information.” it failed to inspire black students and “did not bring their minds into harmony with life as they must face it.” theories of Negro inferiority were “drilled” into black pupils in virtually every classroom they entered.