I Was Homeschooled, and I Feel Vindicated
My thoughts on Connie Morgan's Article (I loved it, by the way...)
A wonderful lady named Connie Morgan penned an article entitled The Quiet Rise of Black Home Educators. This piece is brilliant, factual, and well-written. I encourage everyone to take the time and read it.
I just want to share with a sentiment; and that sentiment is vindication.
My father and mother homeschooled me and my five sisters. This was in the 90s and early 00s. Their peers called them White. Our peers made fun of us. There is lots of conversation now within the Black community—much of which I am very grateful for—concerning the pejorative “White” when referring to fellow Blacks who spoke well, or played sports that Black people typically didn’t play, or didn’t go to a public school, or lived in a nice neighborhood. My family was the object of that kind of ridicule.
People were concerned that my parents were sheltering us too much, not ever stopping to consider that maybe they aren’t sheltering their own kids enough. These people were convinced that we would grow up warped, weird, and completely whacked out.
But my parents moved forward.
All six of us are adults, and my parents often stress to us the importance of parenting for the children as opposed to parenting for ourselves. Parenting for oneself would have led my parents to put us in public school when we were little just to avoid ridicule. Parenting for us was them staying the course even when it was difficult relationally, and even time management wise. They did what they knew needed to be done.
For me specifically, my parents knew that putting me in a public elementary school could have made me another statistic. I grew up in California, and today, 75% of Black boys read below grade level. It wasn’t that bad in the 90s, but it was still bad, and I was likely to be in that category. I wasn’t a great student, and my mom particularly was concerned that teachers would not afford me the same patience that she would, and that teachers would not light a fire under me the way she did when she could discern that I simply was not trying. She was concerned they would label me one of the “stupid” ones and group me with the other “stupid,” or simply misunderstood kids.
Statistically speaking, my mother was correct.
Each of us eventually went to public school, except my older sister, who after attending a private school for a quarter, felt everything moved too slow and came back to homeschool (and who is also a very successful media producer for Bloomberg). The lessons we learned while we were homeschooled continue to be the firm foundation we stand on today, probably in ways we don’t fully understand yet.
All of that to simply say, sometimes—most of the time—people won’t understand your vision. And of those people who won’t understand, there are some who will chide and chastise you for it.
My parents were looked down on as Black people for deciding to homeschool us, and now the fastest growing homeschool families are Black families.
Don’t worry about what people are saying now. Worry about how your children will be later. That is infinitely more important.
Thank you for this beautiful personal response and reflection on Connie's article!
Whoa, had no idea you were home schooled! Your parents must be saints. I can barely help with homework.