Beyond Statistics: A Real Look At Black Homeschoolers

Some inspiring and eye opening information on homeschooling.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_american_homeschooling/110077

Beyond Statistics: A Real Look At Black Homeschoolers

Author: Jennifer James

Published on: July 26, 2004

In the past couple of years the news has been inundated with national, international and local articles reporting the dramatic rise of homeschooling in the African-American community. From small community newspapers to national television networks, the media has done its share of highlighting the growing numbers of African-American families who are abandoning traditional education in exchange for more family-led and individualized learning for their children.

Although a media spotlight has been faceted on the African-American homeschooling community at large, no real attention has been made to individual families with the exception of a few quotes lightly sprinkled through mainly statistical news articles. Noticing this, I decided to take a moment to share some experiences that I have had with real life families that I have met along my short journey as the Director of the National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance (NAAHA).

I founded NAAHA in late January 2003 in order to forge better organization to the burgeoning number of African-American families who have opted to homeschool. I also wanted to create a highly visible national organization where families could obtain the relevant information that they needed to begin homeschooling or to network with other families in their area. It was also my fervent attempt to create a comforting place on the Web where novice or undecided families could feel empowered about their educational choice or potential decision to homeschool despite the prevailing negative attitude toward homeschooling from most African-Americans and the educational community. As my overall objectives were steadily met, I can honestly say that something began happening that I did not initially intend. I began meeting inspiring African-American homeschooling families, all of whom I would never have had the opportunity to meet if I had not started NAAHA.

One of the first homeschooling families that I met left an indelible mark on me, one that will certainly last my entire lifetime. I met a woman who was well into her sixties but had home schooled her children decades earlier when home education was still illegal in Wisconsin. Although we only spoke via phone, the history and experiences that she shared will forever shape my ideas, direction and enthusiasm as I homeschool my own children and help others homeschool theirs. This mother, now a great-grandmother, mentioned to me that she and her husband were adamant about not sending their children to the local public school, even when the climate was starkly against home education and parents’ rights to choose how and where their children would learn. She stressed that even during those uncertain times she and her husband instinctively knew that they could provide a better education for each of their five daughters without the state dictating their children’s course and perspectives on life.

Eventually though, she and her husband were hauled into court when the authorities realized that none of their daughters were enrolled in the local public school. Even faced with the prospect of legal action against them, the separation of their family and the forced attendance of their daughters in public school, this mother and her husband persisted in fighting fervently for their right to teach their children at home. When I asked her what happened then, she mentioned they simply continued to teach their children at home. While she did not delve into specifics, I knew that she and her husband stood on firm ground and despite all encumbrances and in whatever way, they did not lose the battle. They continued to homeschool.

Now all five of her daughters homeschool their own children and she even has one homeschooled great-grandchild. She was proud to say that four of her daughters are successful artists and another is an avid animal lover who takes her own animals around area schools to teach elementary students about animals and conservation. Having the opportunity to personally speak with an African-American homeschooling pioneer did much to enlighten me on how fortunate I am to be a homeschooler in this day.

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Many people don't realize that homeschooling was originally a "liberal thing", and now associate it with the farthest right part of the "christian right" (and, to go to a homeschool convention today... that's largely what you'll see).

A lot of inertia in the education system still works against these folks (regardless of race), but I'd imagine it's harder dealing BOTH with cultural bigotry against homeschooling AND recent liberal mindset against it (caused by WHO is now homeschooling).

But if mom and dad can swing it? It strikes me as an incredibly noble/heroic attempt to save their children from what the inner-city school systems have become.... and thus save them from the life a poor education too often can lead too... and isn't THAT what being a good parent is all about?

It is indeed a myth that only right wingers engage in home schooling. Here are a few more paragraphs from the article. Check out exactly who it is that is home schooling: people participating in a co-op, and people growing organic vegetables and using solar power to get their electricity. Sounds very liberal to me!

From the article:

Shortly thereafter, I met another woman who actually lived only one city over from me. She had recently moved from Washington, D.C. to North Carolina and as a single mother was looking for local homeschoolers with whom to form a co-op. She had found a decent alternative school for her oldest child to attend, but still she had her sights firmly set on homeschooling as she felt it was the most ideal education that any child could receive. As this mother settled into her new surroundings we steadily lost touch and were not in contact for several months. I thought about her often wondering if she had given up on homeschooling altogether and one day out of the clear blue she called. I was extremely happy to hear from her after so long and she was equally thrilled to tell me that she had moved into a living cooperative where not only she and her children lived, but where also she worked. This mother, although raising her children alone, sought and found a creative way to homeschool her children despite the obvious obstacles. Whenever I talk to single parents who ask me if homeschooling is possible for them, I tell them her story.

At the beginning of the summer of 2003, I was contacted by the Korean Broadcasting System about their US bureau doing a documentary on African-American homeschoolers. They wanted to film homeschooling families from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, family structure and teaching style to get a full scope of African-American families who have undertaken to homeschool their children. I put out a call to parents to see if anyone was interested in being a part of the documentary. The only family that responded was a nontraditional one. They were grandparents who were homeschooling their two grandsons.

I spoke with the grandmother at great length and she relayed to me that she and her husband had both religious and educational reasons for pulling their grandchildren out of public school. Like many families, they noticed a gradual decline of their grandsons’ academic performances as well as the overall waning educational atmosphere in their classrooms and with their teachers. I admired them instantly because in talking with her she had the wisdom of a grandmother, but also the fortitude to understand the advantages of homeschooling; something virtually unheard of from other African-Americans from her generation. After all, she and her husband lived through the inception of Brown versus the Board of Education and yet they felt no guilt from rescuing their grandsons from public school despite the historical implications of them having the right to be there. This family can serve as an inspiration to all grandparents who find themselves raising children again and are thinking about the best way to educate their grandchildren. This family taught me early on that traditional families are not the only ones homeschooling their children.

While most journalists report on the homogeneous African-American homeschooling community, they miss out on the true diversity of families that homeschool African-American children. Since forming NAAHA, I have met several Caucasian families who homeschool their adopted African-American children. One such family lives near us and since their son is around the same age as our daughters we have a lot in common and thus we keep in touch. They have invited us to their farm where their son feeds their chickens and where they grow organic vegetables and live in a solar powered home and conversely they visit us at our home.