MSNBC declares homeschooling racist
A column published Thursday by MSNBC has added homeschooling to the list of things that are racist.
“It may seem harmless, but the insidious racism of the American religious right's obsession with homeschooling speaks volumes, writes @AntheaButler,” MSNBC tweeted along with the article.
The article, titled “How the conservative Christian right is hijacking homeschooling,” was penned by University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler, who was also co-chair of Catholics for Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign.
In her column, Butler begins by attacking Kirk Cameron, an actor-turned-homeschool advocate who will be releasing his “The Homeschool Awakening” documentary in June.
As reported by Frontline News, Cameron called public education “Public Enemy Number One” and says homeschooling is vital for the futures of America’s children.
“We need to take back the education of our children,” says Cameron in the trailer video, “. . . because whoever controls the textbooks controls the future. Whoever’s shaping the hearts and minds and souls of our children will determine whether or not we live in a free country.”
But Butler refers to Cameron’s project as “another salvo in the ongoing evangelical war against public schools,” and argues that homeschooling is a racist concept because of Rousas Rushdoony.
Rushdoony was a religious Christian who was active in growing the homeschooling movement in the 1960s as a religious alternative to secular public schooling. While some allege that Rushdoony was against enforced integration, he was markedly supportive of interracial marriages. Rushdoony had no racial motivations in advocating for homeschooling.
But it is because of Rushdoony that homeschooling is racist, says Butler, who offers no evidence, anecdotes, or case studies showing any racism in the homeschool movement.
Still, she laments that Rushdoony-inspired religious materials have “reached parents”, though she does not specify which materials these are, why they are racist or how many parents they have reached.
“Crazy or not, homeschooling materials inspired by Rushdoony’s theology are on sale today to parents who homeschool in America, and many of those materials reached parents during the pandemic,” writes Butler.
Then, citing data from the Census Bureau showing that homeschooling more than doubled since 2020, Butler concedes that this is due to more Black children making the switch to homeschool.
But to Butler, this is not enough. There are simply too many religious people in homeschooling.
“Yet some parents have expressed frustration with conservative Christian materials for homeschooling, which drive the current marketplace,” cries Butler. She cites an article from the Atlantic to back her claim, though the article at no point makes mention of any Black parents complaining about the religious milieu within homeschooling.
The religious and Africana studies professor concluded with a warning that unsuspecting homeschool parents may fall into the trap of Christian networks and religious teachings:
Homeschooling may have greater appeal now because of these debates and the desire for parents to play a big part in their children’s educational life. It may also arise out of pandemic concerns, but parents unfamiliar with the existing networks of homeschooling run the danger of being drawn into Christian conservative networks and theocratic teaching. Cameron’s says that people choosing homeschooling are having an awakening, but the public needs to awaken to the reality that public schools may disappear if people with his extreme beliefs have their way.
But if Butler were to conduct any research on the subject, she would find that about 41% of homeschool families are Black, Asian, Hispanic, and others (i.e. non-white/non-Hispanic). A 2015 study also found that Black homeschooled students scored 23 percentile points in math and 42 percentile points in reading above Black public school students.
Butler is the author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America.
