Nikole Hannah-Jones' experiment accidentally undercuts her case against school choice
Hannah-Jones says the choice aimed to confront segregation, but her daughter later questioned whether it limited her education.
- In a recent essay for The New York Times Magazine, Nikole Hannah-Jones reconsiders her decade-old decision to enroll her daughter, Najya, in a predominantly Black, low-income Brooklyn public school.
- Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, initially championed the enrollment as a stand against educational segregation, defending the choice despite recognizing systemic issues within the school system.
- As Najya grew older, she confronted her mother about the school's lack of rigor, including grading curves that obscured fundamental skill gaps. "I know I got an A, or at least a B," Najya said, despite lacking foundational skills.
- The essay sparked debate, with some readers sympathizing with the dilemma while others criticized the premise as a false dichotomy for parents with resources. Hannah-Jones acknowledged the decision "became an unbearable pattern."
- "Her top schools were heavily white and screened their students," Hannah-Jones wrote, defending her stance against school choice systems she believes perpetuate segregation. Her position remains that systemic change matters more than individual advantage.
19 Articles
19 Articles
NYT’s Nikole Hannah-Jones Regrets Sending Her Daughter to Failing Public School
Nikole Hannah-Jones now admits what her daughter already knew: enrolling your child in a failing school system puts them at a serious disadvantage.Hannah-Jones is a journalist catapulted to national attention by the controversial 1619 Project. In a New York Times Magazine essay this month, she is brutally honest about the cost of choosing a political statement over a child’s education. Daughter Najya Hannah-Jones, now 16, put it plainly: “I neve…
POLITICS: Nikole Hannah-Jones accidentally gave us a vital lesson on school choice
In 2016, New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and her husband, Faraji, made a much-publicized decision: Despite having the means and connections to send their daughter, Najya, to a more selective school, they enrolled her in a “mostly low-income and black” public school in Brooklyn. Now she’s expressing doubts about her choice, but her experience leaves a valuable lesson — about the importance of school choice. The couple had framed the…
When you're a Black student in America, nothing is simple
Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones enrolled her daughter, Najya, in an under-resourced, mostly Black public school, to fight for equity for all Black children. But as Najya grew up she became angry with her mother about that decision, Hannah-Jones wrote for the New York Times. As a Black parent, the school choice struggle hits too close to home, writes Khari Thompson.
How My Family Chose Excellence Over Nikole Hannah-Jones’s Experiment
My parents chose the best for me. They chose to send me, a black boy, to a competitive, majority-white and Asian private school. I was challenged with rigorous homework, test routines, and expansive extracurriculars in athletics and the arts. Through my parents’ striving, I got the chance to learn, grow, and succeed – it’s unfathomable that someone would not want this for their child. Yet the New York Times investigative journalist Nikole Hannah…
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