A look at how Black Girls are being criminalized in schools and how two women took up the fight to stop it.
"The most disrespected person in America is the Black Woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black Woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman." - Malcolm X
We have all heard this quote and to be honest with you, I feel a bit unoriginal using it to start things off. Be that as it may, these words are still as relevant and true today as they were when our great leader uttered them over 50 years ago.
These words play over and over again in my head whenever I see a viral video involving a black girl or woman who was unprotected, disrespected or neglected. What I have found alarming is that for the better part of the last decade or more these viral incidents have involved teenage Black girls and police officers. Within the last 10 years we've seen or heard about a 6 year old Black girl being placed in handcuffs and taken to jail. A 9 year old Black girl get pepper sprayed in Rochester NY. A 17 year old Black girl get arrested for making a volcano science project. 17 year old Black girls in San Diego, Kissimee FL and Chicago be slammed by cops. And no one should forget that last year during the global pandemic a 15 year old girl was arrested in Michigan for not turning in her homework during virtual learning. By looking at these incidents as a whole and not merely as separate viral incidents we will recognize a pattern and come to understand the impact and relevance of Malcolm's words. And just because we can never let the spirit and strength of our Queens die, I will #SayTheirNames - Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland and Atatiana Jefferson.
One of the more infamous videos involved the Black Princess in South Carolina who was flipped out of her desk by the Student Resource Officer who then threw her head first in the direction of the door. Beyond simply going viral, this incident opened up dialogue as to both the need and effectiveness of police officers in schools.
What was lost in that dialogue was how the young lady was neglected and left unprotected before she was obviously disrespected. Now, rest assured I am not writing this to simply pick at a 6 year old scab, this incident (and others) will be used to raise the awareness around the silent crisis involving police in schools as well as highlight the work of two revolutionary women who are devoting their life and work to protected Black women and girls.
In October of 2015, the assault of the 16 year old Black girl by the hands of a police officer went viral. What the world was presented was that she refused to give up her cell phone and because of this, the police officer did his job and removed the student who was disrupting the classroom. To state the obvious, this was not the full story. The full story of course speaks to the neglected and unprotected theme I am establishing.
While watching Garrett Zevgetis' documentary of the incident and the subsequent aftermath, titled On These Grounds, I learned that the young lady was a special education student.
Prior to the officer entering the classroom, the young lady requested to see her resource teacher. She struggles in math and this particular morning the class was going to be testing. This request should have been granted because the young lady had an IEP. (An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan which is a legally binding document that is created for students who are in special education.) (1) However, her math teacher denied her request and told her to have a seat. The young lady got her Chromebook computer and attempted to email her resource teacher in an attempt to get help on her test. Her math teacher noticed that the young lady was attempting to email the resource teacher and logged her out of her computer.
To make it plain, her educational rights are being violated via the math teachers denial of her request to get help. The young lady is simply being neglected. After being told that she will not be going to the resource teacher to get the help that she is legally obligated to, she quietly has a seat and turns the test over on her desk. With her head down she begins picking at her finger nails which appeared to the teacher like she was on a cell phone. It is important to note that the young lady did not own a cell phone and told the teacher this. He continuously asked her for the phone which she couldn't give him because she did not own a phone.
The teacher then called the Assistant Principal, who happened to be a Black man, for help with the situation. He asked the young lady for the phone, which she told him she did not have. The Assistant Principal asked that she leave the classroom for refusing to give up the phone. Again the young lady was not believed and thus left unprotected. At this point the police officer was called in to remove her from the classroom. This "refusal" to give up the phone was used as justification for the officer being called to the classroom when the incident was reported from the media.
So let's recap, we have a 16 year old girl who is being forced to stay in class to take a test that she doesn't understand when legally she is supposed to be allowed to leave to get the help she needs. When the girl is not taking the test that she feels incapable of completing without the necessary help, she is accused of being on a cell phone when in actuality she is picking with her fingernails. The girl doesn't own a cell phone and when she is asked to hand it to the teacher she simply can't produce something she doesn't have. This is seen as a class disruption and now the teacher is requesting that she go to the office for not giving him the cell phone. So she can't leave to get the help she needs but has to get out for not giving up something she doesn't have. Yeah Malcolm X's over used quote sounds pretty relevant to this situation.
Unfortunately, we all saw what happened when the cop entered the classroom. My personal issue is with the Black Assistant Principal and the Black officer who accompanied the cop who assaulted the you lady. These two Black men failed to protect this baby as she was violated. These Black men left that precious Black baby unprotected.
While most of us were sadden by the violent assault, one woman was effected to her core and witnessing this incident forever changed her life. She decided to pack her things and move her life to South Carolina and provide the much needed support to the two young ladies who were victims of the incident. Enter Vivian Anderson and the birth of EveryBlackGirl.
Vivian Anderson was more than just moved by what she saw on the viral video of the incident, she was "called" into action by it. While Ms. Anderson's personal story is well laid out in the previously mentioned documentary, On These Grounds, her heroism and unrelenting fight to create a world in which Every Black Girl can thrive is what needs to be commended.
Aside from the young lady that was assaulted, the girl who shot the video was also arrested. At the time she was 18 years old, after the 16 year old Black girl was handcuffed, the officer came back into the classroom and requested that the girl who taped the incident "come with us." She was subsequently arrested and charged in association with what took place in the classroom.
If you are like me, then you are probably thinking, "Wait, how is that legal?" South Carolina law has in place very arbitrary laws that essentially can criminalize any and all student behavior in which a teacher or police officer deems to be a violation. Case in point to the hypocrisy of South Carolina law, the officers use of force was found to be appropriate in this case. So yes a cop can flip over the desk while you are seated in it irregardless of the possible injuries that may occur. A cop can grab you by your clothing and toss you head first across a classroom and finally place his knee on your neck and upper back. That is within his legal right to do, yet if you film this incident in a school, you are breaking the law. Sounds like the law isn't in place to support the people / students.
This is the fuel for Vivian Anderson's fight to remove police officers from schools. America began to see an uptick in police officers being hired by schools after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. Districts felt that the presence of police in schools would deter mass shooters, however the statistics revealed that they have done little to nothing to prevent mass shooters. Most mass shooters are either stopped by a heroic student or faculty member or they take their own life.
I would be remised to not mention the role implicit bias plays in the issue of police in schools. Some will argue that police officers have been ineffective at deterring their intended purpose of stopping mass shootings because the perpetrators are typically white. Their "Whiteness" is often viewed by police as non threatening and thus they are able to move around with less suspicion than students of other races on campus. This must be pointed out because while police officers have been unsuccessful at stopping mass shootings, studies show that police officers implicit bias has played a major role in the numbers surrounding the criminalization of Black girls in schools. Black girls are 6x more likely to be suspended from school and 3x more likely to be arrested at school than their white counterparts. While the actions of the students are typical of school aged children the consequences speak to an unfair adultification of Black girls, which is largely based on implicit biases held by the officers and school officials. (2)
Vivian Anderson's fight in South Carolina led to her connecting the dots of this problem being nationwide. With assaults of school aged Black girls happening at an alarming rate, Vivian Anderson organized an annual conference that highlighted the strength of these young ladies in addition to her working to remove the laws that enable police to criminalize students in schools.
While Vivian Anderson took the boots on the ground approach to providing support to the girls involved in the South Carolina incident, another woman has spent nearly three decades on a personal crusade to end the systematic criminalization of Black Girls. Enter Monique W. Morris.
Long before her book Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools and the documentary film of the same name, Monique W. Morris had taken up the work of making sure that Malcolm's words were no longer applicable to Black Women. Morris has served in a variety of capacities across the fields of juvenile and social justice and education. Her broad ranging experience enables her to have a holistic view of how Black women and girls have been systematically criminalized. Her work to bring light to and the subsequent end of the oppression and discrimination of Black girls and woman has been highlighted in countless articles, a TEDTalk and is the catalyst for the End PUSHOUT Act that was re-introduced to congress in March of 2021 by Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Ilhan Omar. The legislation aims to change the laws in regards to how Black girls are punished.
As a former classroom teacher, I have seen firsthand how schools can lack the proper empathy necessary for students of color to thrive in general and Black girls in particular. While schools often profess to educate the whole child, it is very hard to see how that end will be obtained if they are being greeted each morning with police officers as they enter the school house. The police presence that was intended to promote safety has quickly turned into fear. This fear is amplified in the hearts and minds of our Black Girls with every punitive disciplinary action that could possibly lead to an interaction between Black Girl Magic and power protruding police officer. This is why we must do everything we can to end the PUSHOUT of EVERYBLACKGIRL.
The discipline girls of color has received from school has led to them essentially being PUSHED out of schools. The term describes the manner in which the schools discipline is categorized, PUSHOUT (Punitive, Unfair, School-based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma). Morris founded Grantmakers For Girls of Color, a philanthropic organization, with the understanding that systematic change takes the necessary resources to make change permanent. Morris has teamed up with other outstanding women to create the Black Girl Freedom Fund with the goal of raising #1Billion4BlackGirls. In her most recent book Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues, Morris presents the ever valuable solution to how schools would look if they provided the proper nurturing for girls of color. Her work is simply aimed at respecting, protecting and nurturing our Black women and girls.
As I bring my thoughts to a close, I want to thank each and every Black woman who has "loved on" any Black girl during their lifetime. Black women have shown up for Black girls consistently. Whether it was taking them in the bathroom to comb her hair, or giving her something to eat that you have stashed in your purse, these small acts of love and kindness are portraits of your beautiful soul. Your love not only showed her who you are but allowed her to see the essence she will one day grow up to be. On behalf of them, I am giving you your flowers for the world to see... And while the fight rages on to protect and nurture our Black girls, your love and desire will be the reason that there will come a time when Malcolm's words will no longer need to be repeated.
Instead, when we speak of our Black women it will be from the vantage point of the last stanza of the famous poem, "Hey Black Child" - Black Girls will become Black Women who Will Be What They Can Be, Learn What They Must Learn, Do What They Can Do and Tomorrow Their Nation Will Be What They Want It to BE...
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