{"id":2676990,"date":"2026-10-06T08:19:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-wonder-project-1619-creators-daughter-was-furious-at-mom-it-wasnt-just-crummy-schools-her-mom-trashed-her-dream-to-be-the-best\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T08:21:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:21:55","slug":"no-wonder-project-1619-creators-daughter-was-furious-at-mom-it-wasnt-just-crummy-schools-her-mom-trashed-her-dream-to-be-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-wonder-project-1619-creators-daughter-was-furious-at-mom-it-wasnt-just-crummy-schools-her-mom-trashed-her-dream-to-be-the-best\/","title":{"rendered":"No Wonder \u2018Project 1619\u2019 Creator\u2019s Daughter Was Furious at Mom, It Wasn\u2019t Just Crummy Schools &#8211; Her Mom Trashed Her Dream to Be the Best"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">50<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fno-wonder-project-1619-creators-daughter-was-furious-at-mom-it-wasnt-just-crummy-schools-her-mom-trashed-her-dream-to-be-the-best%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2676990&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the challenging decision faced by journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and her husband, Faraji, when choosing a school for their daughter Najya. Despite having access to numerous options through New York City\u2019s pre-K for All program, they intentionally sent Najya to a lower-quality school to combat segregation and support her cultural identity. Hannah-Jones reflects on the consequences of this choice, noting that Najya experienced challenges with inadequate schooling, teacher neglect, and a chaotic environment, which impacted her academic performance. Despite her perseverance and eventual acceptance into a prestigious NYC high school, Najya remains critical of the quality of her early education and questions her mother\u2019s decision. Hannah-Jones also expresses her own internal conflict, balancing her advocacy against systemic racism with her desire to provide her daughter with the best educational opportunities, including considerations about attending historically white colleges like Harvard versus HBCUs like Howard University. The story highlights themes of racial segregation, educational inequality, and parenting choices in a racially divided society.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Imagine your mom and dad intentionally sent you to a bad school. How would you respond?<\/p>\n<p>Some 11 years ago, parents Faraji and Nikole Hannah-Jones dropped their daughter off at school for the first time. Because of New York City\u2019s novel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/assets\/opportunity\/pdf\/evidence\/prek_for_all_RQ1_final_Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pre-K for All<\/a> program, they could apply for any of the 1,800 options across the city.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of choosing the school that was best for their daughter, they deliberately sent young Najya to a school they knew was subpar.<\/p>\n<p>Now they\u2019re left wondering if that decision was a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>On Sept. 20, Nikole Hannah-Jones released an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/20\/magazine\/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlE.NPLs.vMKUF8oY4uWg&#038;smid=em-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">essay<\/a> examining all of this and more. The title says it all: \u201cIn Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah-Jones, a longtime writer for The New York Times, has spent much of her adult life investigating racism in America. Best known for her work on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/08\/14\/magazine\/1619-america-slavery.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1619 Project,<\/a> Hannah-Jones also spent significant time reporting on school inequality.<\/p>\n<p>When it came time to send her child to school, however, Hannah-Jones had a difficult choice: prioritize her daughter\u2019s education or fight the \u201chopeless battle for school integration.\u201d She chose the latter.<\/p>\n<p>To counter the segregation of the New York City schools, Hannah-Jones sent her black daughter to a predominantly black school.<\/p>\n<p>In the essay, she expressed hope that her family\u2019s wealth, voice, and influence would help bring positive change. It didn\u2019t go as planned.<\/p>\n<p>Within 10 months of starting pre-K, Najya found herself on the cover of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/06\/12\/magazine\/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlE.bFEy.2q16MUW7mDsK&#038;smid=em-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times Magazine<\/a>. According to Hannah-Jones, she \u201chadn\u2019t intended at first\u201d to write about their decision, but eventually felt the need to speak out against the systemic problems she saw.<\/p>\n<p>And the problems only got worse.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah-Jones writes that toward the end of first grade, she visited Najya during lunch. \u201cChildren were running wild, chasing, hitting and pushing each other while the teacher\u2019s aides and cafeteria workers stood by looking bored,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was not the children that horrified me \u2014 kids of all incomes are rambunctious at lunchtime. It was the callous disregard of the adults.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As detailed in her piece, this chaotic atmosphere made learning difficult. By the time fourth grade came around, Najya \u201cwas not performing on grade level in any of her academic subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the essay, Hannah-Jones recalled that she asked for copies of her daughter\u2019s schoolwork, which Najya brought home in her backpack. A brief glance revealed that none of the schoolwork was graded. So, Hannah-Jones began checking her daughter\u2019s work. She found that most of the answers were wrong.<\/p>\n<p>According to Hannah-Jones, the same problems followed Najya into her English assignments, which were \u201crife with uncorrected punctuation, capitalization and grammar errors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This wasn\u2019t just a fourth-grade problem. In the essay, Hannah-Jones describes how her daughter carried the weight of insufficient schooling into the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. Eventually, Najya had to speak up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?\u201d she asked her mom one day after school.<\/p>\n<p>As they drove home, Najya rattled off test scores and school ratings, frustrated about being placed in an inferior environment.<\/p>\n<p>Her mother finally gave in. Najya studied hard and was accepted into a prestigious New York City high school, where she is making up for lost time. Her story, however, is far from over.<\/p>\n<p>A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisamericanlife.org\/898\/transcript\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">podcast episode<\/a> revealed her opposition to her daughter\u2019s desire to attend Harvard due to its status as a PWI \u2014 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/east-coast-universities-conduct-anti-racist-audit-in-libraries\/\" title=\"East Coast Universities Conduct \u2018Anti-Racist Audit... In Libraries\">predominantly white institution<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m disappointed. I\u2019m like, what is wrong with you?\u201d said Hannah-Jones. Instead, she pushed for Howard University \u2014 preferring a school ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/best-colleges\/howard-university-1448\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No. 73<\/a> over one ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/best-colleges\/harvard-university-2155\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No. 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That same podcast episode gave Najya the opportunity to confront her mother: \u201cAll you\u2019re supposed to do is just put me in a good school.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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How would you react? Eleven years ago, Faraji and Nikole Hannah-Jones enrolled their daughter Najya in a school of their choosing. Thanks to New York City\u2019s innovative Pre-K for All program, they had access to over 1,800 options. Instead of selecting the best school for her, they intentionally placed Najya in a less desirable one. Now, they question whether that decision was right. On September 20, Nikole Hannah-Jones published an essay reflecting on this experience and more. The title captures the essence: \u201cIn Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?\u201d A seasoned journalist for The New York Times and creator of the 1619 Project, Hannah-Jones has long explored issues of racism and educational inequality in America. When it came time to choose Najya\u2019s school, she faced a tough dilemma: focus on her daughter\u2019s education or continue fighting systemic segregation through activism. She chose activism by sending Najya to a predominantly Black school to oppose segregation policies. She hoped that her family\u2019s resources and influence would foster positive change-however, things didn\u2019t unfold as expected.<\/p>\n<p>Within ten months of starting pre-K, Najya appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. Although Hannah-Jones initially didn\u2019t plan to write about their decision publicly, she felt compelled to speak out against systemic issues she observed at her daughter\u2019s school-and those problems only worsened over time.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah-Jones recounts visiting Najya during lunch at the end of first grade; she describes chaos-children running wildly while staff appeared indifferent-not because children are inherently unruly but due to neglectful adult supervision. This disorder hindered learning; by fourth grade, Najya was performing below grade level across subjects.<\/p>\n<p>She checked her daughter\u2019s homework and found it largely ungraded with many incorrect answers-an indication of inadequate instruction that persisted into later grades. Eventually, Najya confronted her mother about the quality of her schooling: \u201cDid you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?\u201d Frustrated by being placed in an inferior environment despite efforts at advocacy and hard work-Najya gained admission into a prestigious NYC high school where she&#8217;s now catching up academically.<\/p>\n<p>Her story continues beyond academics; recently on a podcast episode, she opposed attending Harvard University because it is predominantly white (a PWI), favoring Howard University instead-a historically Black institution ranked lower but aligned with her values.<\/p>\n<p>Najya also challenged her mother directly: \u201cAll you\u2019re supposed to do is just put me in a good school.\u201d Their dialogue highlights ongoing tensions between educational opportunity and racial identity considerations.<\/p>\n<p>Support Western Journal as your trusted source for truthful reporting defending freedom and Western values-subscribe today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2676991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-10-06T000122.660.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5152,3881,52330],"class_list":["post-2676990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-education","tag-family","tag-personalstory"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-10-06T000122.660.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2676990"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2676994,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676990\/revisions\/2676994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2676991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2676990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2676990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2676990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}