African American Homeschooling and the Question of Curricular Cultural Relevance

Abstract

Homeschooling, and academic interest in this phenomenon, have increased tremendously over the last decade. The surge of African American involvement in the homeschool movement has also become noticeable. However, there continues to be a general paucity of research on the motivations of African American parents that choose homeschooling. In order to capture the voice of African American homeschoolers, the authors conducted seventy-four interviews in the spring and summer of 2010 in several large U.S. metropolitan areas. The findings revealed that curricular considerations play a critical part, since many African American homeschoolers believe that a Eurocentric curriculum is bound to gravely interfere with their children's selfesteem and sense of purpose.Keywords: homeschooling, African American, Afrocentricity, Protectionists, CulturalistsAcademic interest in homeschooling has increased over the last decade, as what was once perceived as a marginal development, has, in fact, turned into a significant and growing phenomenon. It is estimated that over two million children are being homeschooled today in the United States, as opposed to 300,000 in 1990, thereby indicating a dramatic increase over a relatively short period of time (Gathier, 2007; Ray, 2010). In fact, homeschooling appears to be the most rapidly growing form of education in the United States. While White homeschooled students still represent about 75% of all homeschooled children, there has also been a noticeable surge in African American involvement in the homeschool movement. In 1999, it was estimated that nearly 10% of all homeschooled children were Black and those numbers appear to be consistently growing (Coleman, 2003; Fulbright, 2006; Ray, 2010). However, there continues to be a general paucity of research on the motivations of homeschooling Black parents, as the common and implicit assumption seems to be that African Americans' disengagement from the school system is dictated by reasons quite similar to those cited by European Americans (Gathier, 2007; Taylor, 2005). Nonetheless, the very unique experiences of African Americans in this society should be cause for caution. Throughout this article, Black, African, and African American will be used interchangeably for the same population as will White and European American.It is the purpose of this article is to* explore one of the main reasons why African Americans increasingly choose to educate their children at home, namely African American discontent with the common Eurocentric orientation of school curricula, at times assorted with a rejection of schooling altogether;* provide a historical and philosophical contextualization of African American discontent with Eurocentric education and;* present empirical evidence regarding African American motivations for homeschooling. Too often, previous research on African American homeschooling has presented it as simply an epiphenomenon of the failure of public education. While it may not be incorrect, such a view nonetheless fails to appreciate homeschooling as the latest phase of the African American struggle for adequate education.While previous studies (Fields-Smith & Williams, 2009; Llewellyn, 1996) have been limited by narrow geographical scopes, and small subject pools, this study sought to overcome these limitations by drawing from a larger number of households distributed over a wide geographical area.African American Quest for EducationAs pointed out by many scholars, there exists a long history of a sustained and heroic effort on the part of Africans in America to obtain education. Many enslaved Africans, in their quest for freedom, did not hesitate to risk severe punishment, and sometimes even their lives in order to learn to read and write (Lomotey, 2010). During and after the Civil War, more than one thousand Sabbath schools, for example, were established in the South by formerly enslaved Africans for the purpose of making literacy available to adults and children. …