Policing Unconventional Black Motherhood

In a piece for Clutch magazine, Stacia L. Brown says that the story of a mom investigated for "roadschooling" raises serious concerns.

"Roadschooling" is the practice of educating by way of extended road trip. The idea is to allow the child to learn about different regions and cultures and practices by seeing them firsthand. In addition to roadschooling, "unschooling" is another learning style on the rise.

Extended family has a penchant for sticking its nose into parents' choices. Whether it's their decision to raise a vegan or vegetarian child, a resistance to perm, a neighborhood the family finds questionable, or language the child's allowed to use, we're used to aunts, grandmothers, and cousins chiming in. But sometimes, "chiming in" crosses a line.

It certainly has for Lacy, whose latest blog entries and tweets have chronicled a series of police and social service visits prompted by her extended family's complaints about her parenting. The complaints followed their discovery of her intent to roadschool. The situation escalated until her son was forcibly removed from the home for seven days, while an investigation into her mothering ensues. Despite a lack of evidence, save the dangerous accusations of three family members' who haven't seen Lacy or her son in a year (and thus have not witnessed any of the misconduct alleged, during that time), Lacy's custody was rather easily stripped?

Read Stacia L. Brown's entire piece at Clutch magazine.

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