MSNBC columnist and University of Pennsylvania professor, Anthea Butler, published a piece on Thursday baselessly asserting that homeschooling is the religious right’s “insidious way to circumvent” the integration of students in public schools, intimating that Christians 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 linking to her article.

She accused homeschooling evangelicals of conducting a “war against public schools.” She based her claim partially on actor Kirk Cameron’s documentary “The Homeschool Awakening.”

“’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 wrote in her column for MSNBC, 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 falsely stated, attempting to smear Christians as racist.

And yet… the fastest growing segment of homeschoolers is… wait for it… African-Americans.

— Tim Spivey (@timspivey) May 14, 2022

If the public school insists on indoctrinating kids with obtuse ideology, homeschooling is a great alternative. In fact it’s a strong argument for school choice. If a school district is losing students, they should look inward to determine why, not blame parents/religions.

— Ultra Loves Liberty (@LovesLiberty1) May 13, 2022

“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,” she outrageously charged.

“One of the main purveyors of homeschooling was a fundamentalist, Rousas Rushdoony, whose work beginning in the 1960s in establishing Christian day schools grew into the homeschooling movement,” Butler stated attempting to connect racism to the roots of homeschooling.

This sentence structure is terrible. It’s trying to say too much and ends up not making sense. Why would “insidious racism” seem harmless? Perhaps the author would have benefited from homeschool.

— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) May 14, 2022

delete your account.

— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) May 14, 2022

She besmirched Rushdoony further by claiming that he was part of an early “insidious way to circumvent integration.” Butler wrote that Rushdoony “saw homeschooling as a way to cut the government out of educating Christian children and to prepare them to take their place in a theocratic government.”

“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,” she charged.

“Cameron’s documentary promoting homeschooling is not an aberration; it is part of a larger project about dismantling the public education system in the United States,” Butler noted taking another swipe at Cameron.

“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 continued.

Run on that. Please.

— Will Collier (@willcollier) May 13, 2022

“Cameron’s documentary furthers the long-term goal of America’s religious conservatives to dismantle the public school system by promoting homeschooling,” the author posited.

Butler went on to beman the fact that parents “are now finding homeschooling as an attractive alternative” including “black parents and other diverse groups.” Though, “some parents have expressed frustration with conservative Christian materials for homeschooling, which drive the current marketplace.”

Public schools are terrified of competition. They might have to provide a better product and they don’t want to.

— Nancy (@SameOldNancy) May 13, 2022

She seems to have a real issue with “Christian conservative networks” and admonished parents who do decide to take that route to avoid them.

“Homeschooling may have greater appeal now … but parents unfamiliar with the existing networks of homeschooling run the danger of being drawn into Christian conservative networks and theocratic teaching,” she warned.

Butler also said that homeschool supporters like Cameron could possibly destroy public schools altogether.

“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 proclaimed.

Butler also served as the co-chair of Catholics for Joe Biden during his presidential campaign according to the Daily Wire.

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