Sunny Hostin Reveals Kids Faced Racism at Private Schools

On Monday, Sunny Hostin took to The View to share that her kids encountered racism while attending private schools where most students were White. She raised the subject during a conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones, the founder of the 1619 Project and a reporter for The New York Times Magazine. Hannah-Jones recently admitted she regretted some choices regarding sending her daughter to public schools in Brooklyn that serve high-poverty communities and are predominantly Black. Hostin expressed empathy for Hannah-Jones but pointed out extra complications with placing Black children in White-majority private institutions.

I think that this is a decision broadly that all parents make when it comes to educating their kids, but ... this is a very difficult decision for Black parents, in particular, because I made a very different decision, Hostin said. She explained she sent her own children to private schools that were mostly White. Her kids did not struggle academically and they excelled instead. They attended a well-funded school with plenty of resources yet they suffered a different type of pain.

There was psychological trauma, there was racism that they experienced, she added. They faced bullying directly. Trauma surrounded their identity as Black children. Hostin described an incident where her daughter wore a big afro and kids tried to stick pencils in her hair. Boys called her butter face meaning she looked good but her face was different, though she is a beautiful girl.

Hostin conceded her children did not struggle academically like Hannah-Jones daughter reported but she expressed concerns about the systemic problem affecting predominantly non-White school districts nationally. Schools in those areas receive $23 billion less in annual funding than their White counterparts according to Hostin. Underfunded schools versus well-funded schools creates an imbalance. Public schools are funded from property taxes so we need to look at the systemic problem that is happening in this country around public education, she said.

Fox News Digital reached out to ABC and Ethical Culture Fieldston School where Hostin previously sent her children for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Hannah-Jones told Fox News Digital the broader focus should remain on families who lack resources to pursue better educational options for their children rather than her own decisions for her daughter.

I hope people concerned about the choice my husband and I made for our daughter will have equal or more outrage for the thousands of Black children whose parents dont have the resources to send them to better schools, she said. As I write in the piece there is no absolution to be had for any of us. Fox News CJ Womack contributed to this report.