MSNBC column claims homeschooling is racist, part of ‘extreme’ ‘evangelical war’ to ‘dismantle’ public scho
Categories: US Education News
In an MSNBC opinion column Friday, columnist Anthea Butler warned about homeschooling being a "project" of evangelicals’ "war against public schools," one that also has "inidious" racist roots.Butler began her piece by mentioning actor Kirk Cameron’s documentary "The Homeschool Awakening" and how it shows that staunch conservatives are planning to launch an assault against public schools. "’Public education has become public enemy No. 1,’ the actor Kirk Cameron opines in a promotion for ‘The Homeschool Awakening,’ his documentary scheduled to hit theaters in June," she stated, adding, "as Cameron’s quote indicates, this latest project of conservative evangelical education is another salvo in the ongoing evangelical war against public schools.""It should come as no surprise that evangelicals, fundamentalists and other religious conservatives have fought against public education since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education," Butler continued, framing this far-right, Christian "war" against public schools in a racial light. She asserted, "The prospect of integrated schools led to the creation of many ‘segregation academies,’ private schools designed to keep African American children and undesirable immigrant groups away from white children. But there was another, more insidious way to circumvent integration: homeschooling.""This dismantling has taken shape over the years in various ways: in segregation academies, in school vouchers, in attempts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education," she said. "Cameron’s documentary furthers the long-term goal of America’s religious conservatives to dismantle the public school system by promoting homeschooling," she added, and also mentioned that homeschooling did expand during the pandemic "among parents who wanted to make sure their children kept up academically and avoided the coronavirus.""Cameron’s [sic] 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," she claimed.