Educating About Race and Racism at a Racially Diverse U.S. Muslim Homeschool Co-Op

• In Event: Drawing on Islamic Educational Theories and Practices to Dismantle Racial Injustice

Abstract

Muslims in the United States are a racially and ethnically diverse religious community. Due to Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism, and other forms of racial discrimination, many Muslim families seek alternatives to mainstream schools. For families who can access them, roughly three to four percent of Muslim children in the country attend Muslim-run schools. A growing number of Muslim families are also choosing to homeschool and, increasingly, form homeschool groups or co-operatives. The history of Islamic schooling in the United States has been a bifurcated one, with schools founded by African American families beginning in the 1930s predating those established by recently immigrated families, many of whom were Arab or South Asian, starting in the 1980s. The student body demographics of each category of school have largely followed those of their founders, and not much research explores the extent to which members from the two communities have collaborated on educational goals.

The present study is based on an ethnography of a Muslim homeschool co-op in the U.S. Midwest whose founders are predominantly African American and whose student body consists of students from recently immigrated families of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Framed by postcolonial theory - which posits that power operates not just through material domination but just as importantly through discursive practices that shape subjectivities - the study focuses on the opportunities and challenges of planning and teaching curriculum about race, racism, and other forms of oppression. While research studies have explored similar topics within U.S. educational contexts, few have done so from within an Islamic educational context and an Islamic paradigm. The study’s findings are based on interviews and classroom observations that took place on Zoom between March 2020 and December 2020, a time of renewed focus on systemic racism across the country. Audio recordings were transcribed and coded for common themes.

Findings suggest that curriculum about race was an important motivator for why founders of the co-op sought to create an alternative to mainstream school options. Educators at the co-op made explicit the Islamic mandate to oppose oppression, and they frequently made transnational connections between struggles across the globe, including where oppression was/is directed at Muslims as well as where discrimination is practiced against people who were/are not necessarily Muslim. Educators drew upon social media content and guest speakers who were members of marginalized racial groups (who were not necessarily Muslim) whose histories they were discussing in class. While co-op founders’ goal to educate about racial oppression was based on their understanding of the relationship between Islam and social justice work, ensuring students were aware of social issues nationally and globally was at times met with moments of skepticism or hesitation from parents. This posed a challenge that administrators navigated in various ways that upheld a respect for parents’ ultimate decisions while maintaining the importance of educating about oppression. The study adds an important perspective by presenting a nuanced account of how social justice education is planned and taught from within a racially diverse Muslim educational context.

Author

• Noor A. Doukmak, ILM Academy