Black girls, and other girls of color, experience discriminatory, racist and unfair treatment in school, including suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement and arrests on school campuses, at rates that exceed the average public school population— and far exceed those experienced by their White female peers.
On today’s episode, we will be hearing from Dr. Monique W. Morris, a bestselling author, social justice scholar and the founder and president of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute. Her impactful new and very topical national documentary, “PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools,” exposes the alarming numbers of African American girls facing unfair and inequitable treatment in schools across the country and also outlines initiatives to help them cope and heal. PUSHOUT is based on two of Dr. Morris’s books, “PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools” and “Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues,” and exposes a new and troubling trend: African American girls are the fastest-growing population in the juvenile justice system and the only group of girls disproportionately experiencing harsh discipline at every educational level.
On this episode, we will explore how gendered racism is experienced by Black girls in school and the implications this has for Black women in working life, and importantly what we can do to fix this issue.