Black girls are nearly six times more likely to get out-of-school suspension than white counterparts and more likely to be suspended multiple times than any other gender or race of students, according to a report.
Even laughing has landed some black girls in trouble, as was the case in January when, New York, were strip searched because they seemed giddy during lunch hour.
Disciplinary actions not only result in lost classroom time and stalled academic progress, but they also erode self-esteem and reinforce the idea that black girls are not welcome in class. The brawl ended with another threat: The girls said they planned to go to C’alra’s apartment to rough her up. C’alra’s older sister, pregnant with her first child and left to care for five younger siblings, blamed C’alra. The school labeled her a troublemaker and refused to let her come back.
Even charges that appear more serious can be misleading, Beeler points out. A skirmish between family members or friends, for example, can result in an assault charge. C’alra, by then 17, says she was confused and scared, and didn’t realize the officer was trying to detain her. She just wanted to get somewhere safe.
“We need to call it what it is and it’s the issue we dance around in every community nationally -- and that's the whole issue of racism,” said Judge John J. Romero Jr., president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. “Racism is still among us and and it shows its ugly face in school, in the community, and certainly in our courts.”
For nearly six months, C’alra was in and out of court. She missed countless days of work and lost both her jobs. She explained that she was homeless, that her parents were in prison. They shrugged off her tears as a ploy to gain mercy, C’alra recalls. “They were so ready to wipe their hands of me.”C’alra was handcuffed and taken into custody. She had fallen behind on court fines and missed a hearing date after her sister was shot at a house party and C’alra spent the night by her side in the ICU -- invalidating the plea deal on her evading arrest charge.Monica Rhor, USA TODAYFor nearly a month, she sat in the county jail, waiting to be transported to a state facility.
She didn’t have long to wait. On Nov. 7, she learned that the parole board had voted to release her at the end of the month. It had met to consider her case in August, just after she had been put in jail. As her calendar filled with X’s, she had time to ruminate about her past, about the family patterns that had repeated for generations. Anare mothers and about one-quarter are African American, according to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition -- a snapshot of the long-term impact when black girls are pushed out of school and into the legal system.
“Man, this is a strong lady,” C’alra thought. “In the end, it all led to her becoming great. She made it through.”On a recent spring day, more than two years after that turning point moment, C’alra sat at her dining table, the curtains pulled tight across a nearby window. She bowed her head, her long braids brushing close to a vase of purple silk flowers, and skimmed through her dog-eared prison Bible.
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