Editor’s note: This commentary from Christina Laster, a civil rights activist and humanitarian who serves as director of policy and legislation for the National Parents Union, appeared Tuesday on project forever free.
As a Black homeschooling mom, I am most irritated by the mere thought of my children being trapped in a failing school. But there are a couple of recent misconceptions about Black homeschooling families that have also been getting on my nerves.
First, the media attention to Black homeschooling portrays us as an anomaly. Our numbers began increasing well before the pandemic, and since then have skyrocketed. Black homeschoolers are not eccentric. We share many of the same concerns and values as our fellow Black families who have chosen public schooling.
The second misconception is that Black homeschoolers are turning their backs on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. We are not here to re-segregate children. We Black homeschoolers are expressing our right to self-determination, which has deep historical roots.
Black homeschoolers have always existed. We taught our own children when there were no formal schools and when they couldn’t attend schools. When no one would or could teach us in formal schooling, we found other ways to learn.
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