Abstract
Interest in homeschooling has increased over the last decade, as what was once perceived as a marginal development has turned into a significant phenomenon. There has been, in recent years, a noticeable surge in African American involvement in the homeschooling movement as well. However, there continues to be a general paucity of research on the motivations of homeschooling Black parents. It is the purpose of this essay (1) to present empirical evidence regarding African American motivations for homeschooling; and (2) more specifically, to explore how parental concerns for safety are leading African American families to homeschooling. These concerns, the authors contend, bring to the fore a series of disturbing circumstances and preoccupations that are specific to African Americans.
Highlights
Academic interest in homeschooling has increased over the last decade, as what was once perceived as a marginal development, has, turned into a significant and growing phenomenon
There continues to be a general paucity of research on the motivations of homeschooling African American 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, such as quality of education or religious beliefs, just to name a few (Taylor, 2005)
Unlike other research on homeschooling, and unique to the African American experience, the second most mentioned motivating factor for homeschooling was a concern with racism, with about 24 percent of our respondents citing it as a motivation
Summary
Academic interest in homeschooling has increased over the last decade, as what was once perceived as a marginal development, has, turned into a significant and growing phenomenon. It is estimated that over 2 million children are being homeschooled today in the United States, as opposed to 300,000 in 1990, indicating a dramatic increase over a relatively short period of time (Gathier, 2007; Ray, 2010). As a matter of fact, homeschooling, which grew by 74% between 1999 and 2007 (Grady & Bielick, 2010), appears to be the fastestgrowing form of education in the United States today. While White students still represent about 75% of all homeschooled children, there has been a noticeable surge in African American involvement in the homeschool movement as well (Coleman, 2003). There continues to be a general paucity of research on the motivations of homeschooling African American 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, such as quality of education or religious beliefs, just to name a few (Taylor, 2005).
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