I belong to several African American Homeschooling Email Lists/ groups. I often question my memberships. You see, I have problems with exclusivity. Yet, I maintain my membership. There is information I can get from these lists that I cannot get anywhere else. This information includes cultural materials and events that my children can learn from and enjoy.
The groups include African Amercican Unschoolers and African American Homeschooling Network
Being African American and a Homeschooler can be lonely… not for lack of people, but for lack of similar people. With one exception, when I was considering homeschooling while living in New Orleans, I have never felt excluded by non-black homeschoolers. However, standing out so much in a crowd gets exhausting. Still, I would rather stand out in the homeschooling crowd than get lost in the educational system.
I had a reporter interview me a couple years ago as one of the few local African American Homeschoolers in the area. He seemed disappointed that my reasons for homeschooling were purely academic. He found other sources for his article that said that being black in public school put their kids at a huge disadvantage and so they chose to homeschool. Whether that is true or not, I will not acknowledge that argument.
Where are all the African American Homeschoolers? There are a few, here and there, but we are just a tiny segment of the homeschooling population. With studies showing that the educational race gap between homschooled blacks and whites being non-existent in relation to the race gap in school, one has to wonder why more of us do not homeschool.
Here are some of the reasons why more African Americans do not homeschool.
Cultural pressure: Our people fought and many died for the right to be educated alongside everyone else, in integrated schools. It is an insult to turn your back on it. As far as I can see, however, what we fought for no longer exists.
Economic reasons: African Americans are disproportionately poor. This does not allow one parent to stay home, especially if they are the only parent, and homeschool. Fortunately, those who are able to afford to homeschool are taking on the challenge.
Educational background: How can a parent with a poor educational background teach their children? Surely, there will be an upper limit on how much knowledge can be passed on. What they do not know is that it takes more street smarts (cunning) than book knowledge to be an affective homeshooler. However, the message is getting out and parents are becoming more confident in their abilities.