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Pushed out and punished: One woman's story shows how systems are failing black girls
-Black girls are being criminalized at alarming rates. They are hobbled by negative societal stereotypes that stretch back to slavery. By educators, counselors, caseworkers and judges who fail to address their trauma and emotional needs. By school discipline policies that push black girls out of school and punish them more often and more harshly than their white peers.
“They’re not allowed just to be and learn and heal and be girls,” said Monique Morris, author of “Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools” and president of National Black Women’s Justice Institute. “We see this criminalization of black girl joy that leads to them feeling as if they are culpable even if they are not.”
African American girls don’t misbehave more or commit more serious infractions, experts say, yet they often receive more severe penalties for the same behavior as white peers. They are nearly six times more likely to get out-of-school suspension than white counterparts, a report from the African American Policy Forum
"...when black girls speak their truth they're told that they are being disruptive to the learning process.”
The problem extends beyond the prejudice of an individual teacher or the personal bias of a school police officer, emphasized Francine Sherman, director of the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project at Boston College Law School.
It is, Sherman and others say, the intentional result of institutional structures driven by racist underpinnings.
“Black girls are pushed to the side, not listened to. Qualities that should be seen as leadership qualities are seen as being disruptive or aggressive or assertive in a way that's not respected,” she said. “The systems should know better, do know better.”
According to a report by the National Women’s Law Center, black girls are more likely to be suspended than white girls in every state -- not because of greater misconduct on their part, but because of biased perceptions by teachers and administrators.
They are dismissed as combative, as C’alra was, for speaking up in class or trying to engage with the teacher. They are penalized more often for dress code violations overlooked in white students or for wearing culturally specific hairstyles and clothes.
In Camden, New Jersey, for example, a charter high school student who wore a Nigerian head wrap for this year’s Black History Month observation was told to remove the scarf or serve in-school suspension for violating dress code. In 2017, black female students at a charter high school in Malden, just outside Boston, were put in detention and threatened with suspension for wearing box braids.
Even laughing has landed some black girls in trouble, as was the case in January when four 12-year-old middle school students in Binghamton, New York, were strip searched because they seemed giddy during lunch hour.
Nia Evans, manager of campaign and digital strategies for the National Women’s Law Center, traces the disproportionate disciplining of black girls to three main drivers: a convergence of racial and gender stereotypes, overly harsh and vague policies, and punishment of trauma.
Pushed out and punished: One woman's story shows how systems are failing black girls
-Black girls are being criminalized at alarming rates. They are hobbled by negative societal stereotypes that stretch back to slavery. By educators, counselors, caseworkers and judges who fail to address their trauma and emotional needs. By school discipline policies that push black girls out of school and punish them more often and more harshly than their white peers.
“They’re not allowed just to be and learn and heal and be girls,” said Monique Morris, author of “Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools” and president of National Black Women’s Justice Institute. “We see this criminalization of black girl joy that leads to them feeling as if they are culpable even if they are not.”
African American girls don’t misbehave more or commit more serious infractions, experts say, yet they often receive more severe penalties for the same behavior as white peers. They are nearly six times more likely to get out-of-school suspension than white counterparts, a report from the African American Policy Forum
"...when black girls speak their truth they're told that they are being disruptive to the learning process.”
The problem extends beyond the prejudice of an individual teacher or the personal bias of a school police officer, emphasized Francine Sherman, director of the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project at Boston College Law School.
It is, Sherman and others say, the intentional result of institutional structures driven by racist underpinnings.
“Black girls are pushed to the side, not listened to. Qualities that should be seen as leadership qualities are seen as being disruptive or aggressive or assertive in a way that's not respected,” she said. “The systems should know better, do know better.”
According to a report by the National Women’s Law Center, black girls are more likely to be suspended than white girls in every state -- not because of greater misconduct on their part, but because of biased perceptions by teachers and administrators.
They are dismissed as combative, as C’alra was, for speaking up in class or trying to engage with the teacher. They are penalized more often for dress code violations overlooked in white students or for wearing culturally specific hairstyles and clothes.
In Camden, New Jersey, for example, a charter high school student who wore a Nigerian head wrap for this year’s Black History Month observation was told to remove the scarf or serve in-school suspension for violating dress code. In 2017, black female students at a charter high school in Malden, just outside Boston, were put in detention and threatened with suspension for wearing box braids.
Even laughing has landed some black girls in trouble, as was the case in January when four 12-year-old middle school students in Binghamton, New York, were strip searched because they seemed giddy during lunch hour.
Nia Evans, manager of campaign and digital strategies for the National Women’s Law Center, traces the disproportionate disciplining of black girls to three main drivers: a convergence of racial and gender stereotypes, overly harsh and vague policies, and punishment of trauma.
