My anecdotal experience with homeschooled kids (my son is not old enough yet) is that the lack of 'forced' exposure at school is more than compensated by the habit of indulging and exploring one's curiosity. Especially because it applies not just to social aspects but to any area of knowledge, activity and culture. By the time the child's direct interests and background start showing their limits (9-ish years old?), they will have plenty of opportunities for interaction outside that circle (extracurricular classes, sports, travels, etc). Homeschooled does not mean hermit.

I would say that "forcing" interaction is not a correct way of attempting socialization because if a child is forced to do something that they do not wish to participate in, then the outcome is often less than optimum.

I went to high school in the Deep South, it was more or less evenly balanced between black and white. Tribalism was in effect in this "forced" environment, granted this is going to be different from area to area. The black friends that I had were because we shared a common interest/background.

But again, if a parent wants to "force" such an interaction upon their child that is homeschooled, then chances are there would be ways of achieving that with after school programs. My local YMCA didn't turn away black children at the door for example.

Clearly this is a YMMV thing.

I was public schooled, semi-rural Oklahoma in the 1970s.

The only diverse culture we had was 'town' vs 'country'.

My kids, who _are_ home schooled, have more exposure to diversity because of where we live, who we associate with.

I went to public school. The tribalism existed there in full force. One just had to look around the lunch room to see all the blacks at one table, all the asians at another, all the whites at their own tables further subdivided by various labels.