Why E over A?

Hi Meredith, This question specifically references a line in the passage. It is helpful to go back to the passage and start a couple of lines up from the referenced line, or even further back to a natural beginning point. In this case, I started my scan at the beginning of the paragraph. As we see from the first sentence of the paragraph, the historians were concerned with nation building (from the ground up), which would explain why reconstructing here would signify "shaping a conception of". It is highly unusual that the word reconstruct would mean from the ground up as opposed to rebuilding something, or in this case, correcting a misconception. However, there was no misconception about the "glorious African past". In the future, if you are facing a dilemma such as A vs E, ask yourself if there is the element of correction in this line. Is this word used to signify that something is being fixed, or simply that something is being built or created? Hope this helps.

But the same sentence it says "overturning degrading...." which does seem to be saying there is a misconception that they are correcting. How do you reconcile this?

^^^^^^ that's why I was confused as well

"Overturning" something - such as an idea, a characterization or a result of an occurrences/event - does NOT require that something to be false. People do attempt to overturn correct outcomes. Think of courts of appeals...