Friday, November 6, 2015
Open Society Foundation-funded Report Finds Bias Warps the Way African-American Girls are Treated at School
Our education system is a reflection of our society, along with all of its attendant biases, belief systems, and norms. African-American girls in school encounter race and gender biases, which lead them to be unfairly labeled as aggressive, unfeminine, loud, disruptive, and non-compliant. These are all code for stereotypes of African-American girls as not fitting within prevalent white norms of feminine behavior and requiring social correction. These biases play out not only in discipline disparities impacting African-American girls, but also in violent and inappropriate confrontations between police and young black women. . .
In our recent report on African-American girls and education, Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and the National Women’s Law Center highlight how race and gender biases held by educators and school administrators impact the educational experiences of African-American girls. The report points to data showing that 12 percent of all African-American female students received an out-of-school suspension, which is six times the rate of white girls, and more than most boys. . .