Homeschooling on the Rise in Black Families

About 220,000 African American children are currently being homeschooled in the United States, according to a report from the National Home Education Research Institute.

The Atlantic reports African American children are quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing demographics to opt for homeschooling. Currently, about 10 percent of the homeschooling population is black students.

According to studies, black families are choosing homeschooling because they say schools sometimes have low expectations for African American students and many African American students face unfair treatment.

Vanessa Robinson, whose son, Marvell, faced racial bullying in school, pulled him from school to homeschool him.

"I just thought maybe I could do a better job myself," she said.

"If he hadn’t been bullied I would have really looked into transferring schools, or going back to where I grew up in Kansas," she said. "At least in Kansas it was more racially diverse. I assumed that’s how the schools would be in San Diego, but I was wrong."

Robinson switched her nursing schedule to teach Marvell during the week. Her husband works full-time as a sous che in downtown San Diego.

In a 2012 report in the Journal of Black Studies, Ama Mazama reported on the change of black homeschooling families in the nation. Most told her that they chose to homeschool to keep their children from facing racism. 

"We have all heard that the American education system is not the best and is falling behind in terms of international standards," she said. "But this is compounded for black children, who are treated as though they are not as intelligent and cannot perform as well, and therefore the standards for them should be lower."

Publication date: February 18, 2015