by Carol-Lyn McKelvey, FAUSA & AIWC Cologne
Typically, the Education Team focuses its energies on shining a spotlight on efforts, concerns and victories in underserved communities outside of the United States. However, with so much attention recently on the Black Lives Matter movement, the confusion over critical race theory, the disenfranchisement of Black voters through redistricting and restrictive voting practices and with Black History Month just around the corner, it seems an appropriate time to bring our spotlight back to the US.
Throughout the year, the Education Team rotates its attention among the SDG 4 targets of literacy (4.6), equal access (4.1, 4.2, 4.5), continuing education (4.4) and global citizenship (4.7). In January and February, the Education Team typically drills down into issues surrounding SDG Target 4.4: “By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.”1
So how does this intersect with the African American experience in the US? In an executive summary of research done in 2014 by the National Women’s Law Center and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, it was noted that:
African American students are disproportionately enrolled in schools that lack quality resources, including credentialed teachers, rigorous course offerings, and extracurricular activities. As a result, African American girls are less likely to have access to curricula and instruction that lead to postsecondary education and high wage careers…Overly punitive disciplinary practices, such as out-of-school suspensions for relatively minor and subjective offenses, disproportionately push African American girls out of school and increase their involvement with the juvenile justice system.2
And so the intersection begins to reveal itself.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, there is little research available that digs deeper into the school experiences of African American girls. In Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected, the authors concede that the bulk of available research focuses on the Black male experience, but “punitive disciplinary policies also negatively impact Black girls and other girls of color. Yet much of the existing research literature excludes girls from the analysis, leading many stakeholders to infer that girls of color are not also at risk…[This] report developed out of a critical dialogue about the various ways that women and girls of color are channeled onto pathways that lead to underachievement and criminalization.”3 While Black women are statistically among the most represented groups in college enrollment, “we need to widen the conversation further and center it on the people who are growing up to become Black women: Black girls, whose struggles in the current education system have become a crisis….We should be talking about the achievements of Black women in college and the rate at which Black girls are being pushed out of K-12 schools. Why? It’s not simply because both issues are related to education, but because Black girls still remain mostly invisible in our discipline conversations.”4
In light of these shortcomings, Black History Month presents an opportunity to study and apply lessons learned in order to not let Black girls and other girls of color be left behind educationally. During the Q&A session after the screening of The Long Shadow (hosted by FAWCO’s Diversity, Inclusion, Equality and Belonging Team), the question was posed about what can we do individually to increase inclusivity and equality for people of color in our own communities. Guest Sharon Hachett from the Together is Better Alliance suggested that when you hear or see something, say something, whether it’s in a business meeting, during a family or social event or out in the community; that to be an ally means to not let casual, purposeful or coded slights go unnoticed (paraphrased). To this end, the Education Team encourages you to arm yourself with knowledge by exploring the resources available in the BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESOURCE GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS AND FAMILIES published by The Center for Racial Justice in Education. From resources on engaging and focusing on Black women and Black girls in our schools to parent resources on how to engage our families in the conversation (which includes 45 books on how to teach children about Black history), this guide is an entry point for people new to the conversation and also offers a deeper dive for those who are already involved in it.
SDG Target 4.5 states: “By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training.”5 This goal is not just for underserved countries, but applies to the historically underserved communities and groups in the United States, as well. African American girls continue to be at a high risk of having their education interrupted for no other reason than the color of their skin. By working together, we can help change the narrative, and there’s no better time to start than now.
Photo credit: LeeAnn Cline unsplash
Sources:
- https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/
- https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/unlocking_opportunity_executive_summary.pdf
- https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2021-05/black_girls_matter_report_2.4.15.pdf
- https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/dont-forget-about-black-girls
- https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/
