Black girls are often ignored in policy making despite the fact that they are disproportionately pushed out of schools via punitive disciplinary measures. Thankfully, scholars and activists are taking up the gap in attention paid to the issues that affect them. A groundbreaking study of the challenges Black girl face was released last year by the African American Policy Institute.
According to federal data, black girls are suspended from school at a rate that is six times higher than that of their white female peers. In New York City and Boston, black girls represented 56 percent and 61 percent, respectively, of all girls disciplined in those cities’ K-12 schools, even as incidents of discipline against black girls go underreported. Black girls receive harsher criminal sentences than their white female peers do in the juvenile-justice system, and they also represent its fastest-growing population.
They interviewed four scholars about what Black girls in schools need.
Shaun Harper says that the needs of Black girls must be assessed independently of the needs of Black boys.
Adrienne D. Dixson says that educators have to take more time to understand why kids behave the way they do. "Sometimes when kids feel oppressed or repressed they respond in the language that they know," she says. "Schools should recognize that...they're responding to an environment that doesn't help them feel free."
Terri Watson says, "I think Black girls are either seen as invisible or they're problematized." To change this she says the spaces they inhabit must adapt. "The challenge is not how do we change Black girls but how do we make sure that these places celebrate and respect them and who they are and view them as assets as opposed to problems."
Bettina Love says "Black girls are misunderstood" and encourages the exploration of Black Girlhood as a site of academic study. "I think if we're going to talk about the issues that are affecting the most vulnerable, it's Black girls and that hasn't been said," she explains. "I think we really need to think deeply about how we are disciplining, testing, interacting, engaging with our Black girls."
Marley Dias started a book drive to collect stories that centered Black girls that look like her and became a national story. She stopped by The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore to talk a little bit more about the project.
Marley, clearly an astute reader, said she got the idea when she noticed that all the books about white boys she read, Where the Red Fern Grown, Shiloh, and Old Yeller, had disconcertingly similar plots.
She told Larry why it's so important to read stories about people you can relate to. "Like you host a tv show," she explained. "If you were to read a story about a Black man who hosts a tv show, then you'd remember whatever he learned, so you could use it on the show."
Her favorite book? Jacqueline Woodson's National Book Award-winning Brown Girl Dreaming .
Alexis Kyle, 13, faces 30 days in alternative school for accepting a classmate's inhaler while she was having an asthma attack in gym class. Both Alexis and her classmate, Indiyah Rush, are 7th graders in Garland, Texas. Both girls are on the A-B honor roll.
The district says the girls' punishment is automatic for sharing a controlled substance like medication. The middle school's principal will weigh all the facts and make a decision about alternative school for the girls at their hearings to appeal the punishment. The two girls could get a range of days at the alternative campus – from none to 30.
“I'm getting in trouble, but the thing is, she's getting in trouble too. She tried to help me,” Kyle said.
Kyle says she had no clue she was breaking a rule. Kyle's parents appealed the disciplinary action on Thursday. Indiyah's hearing is today.
Amandla Stenberg is Teen Vogue's latest cover star, and she's not talking beauty routines and fashion trends in the issue. She's getting to the heart of what it means to be a Black girl. It's an incredible thing to see Amandla shed light on the issues that affect our community in a clear and thoughtful way.
For Teen Vogue she's participated in a series of video conversations on life as a Black girl. Check them out.
A video released Monday shows a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina dragging a seated student from her desk as a teacher and her classmates looked on. The student did not appear to be combative as the officer placed her in a chokehold, flipped her to the ground and violently arrested her.
Stefani Saintonge's Seventh Grade tells a riveting story of power of friendship. Patrice still plays with dolls, but she and her friends are growing up. When a rumor threatens her bestfriend, Laura's, reputation, she springs into action.
