Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

Morris recalls her experiences interviewing Black girls who attended class in juvenile court schools. After describing the schools’ bleak atmosphere, she quotes two students named Portia and Mia who said attending class in detention is a depressing atmosphere that precludes learning. Chapter 4 then explores the realities of school in confinement for Black girls.

While they are often sidelined in social justice discussions of incarceration in America, 35% of girls who were committed to juvenile correctional facilities were Black (145). Considering that Black girls make up less than 14% of the population of American girls (145), the rate of incarceration for Black girls is hugely disproportionate to other races. Indeed, there is a long and tumultuous history in the United States of Black girls and women being committed to institutions that purported to reform them but only sought to strictly control their behavior and criminalize Black femininity. These institutions, such as asylums, reformatories, homes for women, and jails, were tools of oppression by denying Black females the same educations as their white peers.

Morris argues that this historical trend of segregated education can still be found in juvenile court schools. Several girls are quoted throughout the chapter describing what it is like to attend class in confinement.