Nikole Hannah-Jones, the journalist and founder of the 1619 Project, described the reaction to her recent essay about her daughter's schooling as "pretty brutal." In a Wednesday interview with The New York Times, Hannah-Jones discussed the intense criticism she received after admitting in a September piece that she regretted sending her now-16-year-old daughter to predominantly Black public schools to combat segregation.
Hannah-Jones wrote in her September essay that her daughter, Najya, told her she did not receive the education she wanted. Hannah-Jones expressed feeling overcome with regret, stating that Najya deserved better. She acknowledged that while other students also deserved better, her daughter was her only child and looked to her for protection and the resources needed to thrive. Hannah-Jones wrote that she had not chosen the path that was best for her daughter.
The admission sparked accusations from critics who argued she sacrificed her daughter's education for progressive values. The intensity of the pushback led Hannah-Jones to question whether she should have published the essay at all. "I know it would sound crazy if I say none of the critique was valid, but I’m like, what is the critique?" she told The New York Times. She noted that while she has experienced harsh discourse in the past, it rarely focused on her role as a parent. "There was a moment where I was just like, ‘I did not have to subject myself to this. Should I have done this?’"
Despite the personal hurt, Hannah-Jones stated she does not ultimately regret her actions. She argued that her essay helped shift the national conversation on education equity. "People are talking about these kids who don’t have a platform, who don’t have a choice," she said. She pointed to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whom she said was forced to respond to the issue and has promised to release a plan to address it. "That doesn’t happen without me writing a piece like this," she said, adding that her "little bruised feelings" are meaningless compared to the power of their platform.
Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and school choice advocate, disputed Hannah-Jones' framing of the backlash. DeAngelis told Fox News Digital that critics reacted because he viewed Hannah-Jones as using her child as a prop for a political experiment. "Calling the backlash 'brutal discourse' misses the point," DeAngelis said. He argued that school choice allows parents to leave failing schools rather than trapping children inside them. "Hannah-Jones tried that. It didn't work. Her daughter knows it. Parents across the country already knew it," DeAngelis said, urging families to be given money and freedom to leave institutions that do not work.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hannah-Jones for comment regarding DeAngelis' remarks but did not immediately hear back.