What New Stats Show About The School To Prison Pipeline For Black Girls Is Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined
Judging by the statistics, the national focus on the troubled plight of Black boys with initiatives like President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper may be missing a real crisis that’s hidden in plain sight: Black girls are treated even more harshly in American schools than Black boys
when compared to their white counterparts—leading to them now being the
fastest growing population in the juvenile justice system.The numbers are jarring: Black girls across the country were
suspended six times more often than white girls, compared to Black boys
being suspended three times more often than white boys, according to the
U.S. Department of Education’s analysis of the 2011-2012 school year.Only 2 percent of white females were subjected to exclusionary suspensions, compared to 12 percent of Black girls.
Because males are suspended in greater numbers than females, the
harsh treatment of Black boys tends to draw all the attention. But a new
report by the African American Policy Forum and Columbia Law School
called “Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected”
shines a spotlight on Black girls in public school, playing particular
attention to what happens to them in the New York City and Boston school
systems.honestly haven’t we all been saying this?
and if you actually listen to black girls, you’ll see that they are being antagonized and tracked every single time they go to school.