Posted on 03/30/2014 8:06:49 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Why black children are being funneled into the preschool-to-prison pipeline.
Black students, particularly Black boys, are most likely to be suspended, expelled, and referred to law-enforcement. The school-to-prison pipeline has been well documented for middle and high school students: black teenagers are forced out of school, onto the streets, and ultimately become trapped in the revolving door of crime and incarceration. New data issued by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights reveal that thousands of black preschool students are also being suspended from our nation’s public schools. While black students comprise about 18 percent of preschool students, they represent half of the students suspended multiple times. Black boys are the largest victims of racial disparities in pre-K punishment, though black girls are suspended more than girls of any other race. The data also show that punishment begins early and persists in later grades: black students are three times more likely than white students to be suspended or expelled. Black students only represent about one-sixth of all public school students, but account for nearly one-third of those arrested in school. Likewise, the proportion of black student with disabilities being restrained—strapped down, handcuffed, or legs tied—is almost twice that of other special needs children. Calling the police, handcuffing students, and kicking four-year-olds out of school are irresponsible educational practices that contribute to the criminalization of black children. These experiences can traumatize any child, at any grade level, but the stigma of punishment for black kids has been shown to increase the odds of dropout and incarceration. Racial disparities in early childhood education threaten to destroy the potential of black children before they even have a chance to excel. Why are black children being funneled into the preschool-to-prison pipeline? Part of the problem can be traced to the rise of “get tough” and zero-tolerance policies that have become popular in the post-Columbine era of schooling. Far from increasing school safety, these strategies have resulted in kindergarten students being suspended for "Hello Kitty" bubble guns, kissing another student on the hand, or playing cops and robbers.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a 7-year-old girl was sent home and banned from school because of her “distracting” locks. Ninety-five percent of school suspensions are for non-violent offenses like dress code violations and tardiness, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In early 2014, Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for the end of zero-tolerance policies, which disproportionately target black and Latino students, “make students feel unwelcome in their own schools,” and “disrupt the learning process.” Instead, they advocate what good teachers and smart parents would recognize as common sense: clear boundaries, high expectations for students, and caring relationships between teachers and students make a difference—not kicking students out of school. The Obama Administration should be applauded for tackling the misuse of punishment in our nation’s public schools. However, this does not address the main reason why black students are suspended so often. America continues to see our children as natural born criminals.
For example, The National Review offered the following commentary on the preschool discipline gap: “…The black crime rate […] explains the school-suspension rate. Black males between the ages of 14 and 17 commit homicide at ten times the rate of white and Hispanic males of the same age combined. Given such high crime rates, what do the civil-rights advocates and the Obama administration think is going on in the classroom — docile obedience and strict self-discipline? In fact, the same weak impulse control that leads to such high crime rates among young black males inevitably means more disruptive behavior in school.” [Emphasis added]
In addition to the “weak impulse control” of black people, the author blames single black mothers, absentee black fathers, and the “civil rights industry.” Ronald Reagan perfected this kind of fear mongering about black criminality in the 1980s, while the politics of fear fuel Bill O’Reilly and today’s white minority politics.
Let’s be clear, there is no evidence that black four- and five-year-olds are baby thugs. Disparities in school discipline cannot be explained by the behavior of black children, or black boys in particular. This month, Indiana University researchers released an exhaustive review of the published scientific literature on race, behavior, and discipline. The researchers concluded: “Regardless of the source, there is virtually no support in the research literature for the idea that disparities in school discipline are caused by racial/ethnic differences in behavior. Studies comparing the severity of behavior by race have found no evidence that students of color in the same schools or districts engage in more severe behavior that would warrant higher rates of suspension or expulsion.”
Black kids aren’t little gangsters; rather, we have lost the ability to recognize the innocence of black children. Fear of black children can make Trayvon Martin’s Skittles and a hoodie seem like an eminent threat, or cause Jordan Davis’ killer to fire nine rounds over loud rap music. In the classroom, fear results in harsh punishment for behaviors that might be overlooked among white children. Cutting-edge research published by the American Psychological Association confirms the tendency to see black children as older, less innocent, and as potential criminals. “Racist” preschool teachers are not hatching a plot to destroy black people, but it’s not difficult to find teachers who are afraid of and fearful for black children.
The vast majority of early childhood teachers are white, middle-class, female teachers who too often enter the profession with little prior experience interacting with black children, families, or communities. Some white teachers are less patient, less forgiving, and underestimate their black students, resulting in black students feeling disrespected and treated unfairly because of their race. Teachers are not immune to the harmful stereotypes of black criminality that circulate in popular culture. Rap videos, such as 6-year-old Albert squirting half-naked women with a supersoaker, or 10-year-old Lil Poopy posing as a drug dealer, contribute to the view that black children need harsh discipline before they grow up to become a real threat. Breaking the supposed “cycle of violence and thuggery” was the motivation behind the Omaha police releasing the video of the swearing toddler. Closing the preschool-to-prison pipeline will require abandoning “get tough” school rules and challenging those politicians and media moguls who profit from the myth of black criminality. We must also address the lack of diversity in the nation’s teaching workforce. Black men represent only two percent classroom teachers. The #Dangerous Black Kids social media movement is flooding the Internet with photos of adorable, innocent black children. This is one example of how everyday folk can fight back. Of course, parents must remain the first and last line of defense by continuing to demand that all children are afforded basic civil rights throughout the entire schooling process.
What a fool. No one's 'afraid of skittles and a hoodie' - people are afraid of a 6 foot tall black man knocking them down, getting on top of them and bashing their heads against a sidewalk.
That's the fear - NOT skittles. Is this guy stupid or what?
If he wants to see if it's 'skittles' he can give 5 bags of skittles to a group of Jewish kids - and have them walk through 20 neighborhoods. Nothing's going to happen. It's not the skittles...
If this professor would like young black men treated the same as young Jewish men, or young Asian men or young Hispanic men, or young white men then young black men need to start acting better. They need to study, make good grades, and behave in school... Things young Trayvon didn't do or care about...
But he'll never put himself to that test. The one thing I've learned about liberals is that they have no intention of dealing personally with the underdogs they champion.
You are right
In the hands of a 5 y o Pop tarts are deadly :0
and in the hands of a two year old, they are Really Messy!
the prognosis in general is rather dim if there’s not a massive awakening as to mens and womens responsibilities. very soon.
I'm shocked.....
I’d bet you some school, somewhere in the US, has a class called “African Math” or something like that. After Ebonics was deemed to be a “dialect” of English, the sky’s the limit.
It’s because black parenting is sub-standard. Don’t go blaming me.
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Agreed ... my 10 year old has a black friend who spent most of his spring break at our house... he has the usual divorce and single parent BS that he has to deal with ... we give him love and discipline at our house and he CRAVES IT ... he’s pretty lucky ,, the simple truth is that the problem comes from the family and black families have more problems ... it’s all a circle..
The author is either stupid or dishonest.
Fear of black children can make Trayvon Martin’s Skittles and a hoodie seem like an eminent threat
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The author lost me here ... actually I just skimmed the article because I’m tired of this line of thinking ...
NOTE TO AUTHOR: Trayvon was a threat because he was kicked out of his south Florida school for burglary and he was casing homes in a decent subdivision ... he was caught by George who DID NOT FOLLOW Trayvon but only observed from a distance ,, on a phone call Trayvon let his fat low-IQ GF browbeat him into going back and violently confronting George (on is phone were gangster photos of Saint Trayvon posing with a gun and such),, pounding someones head into a sidewalk is not exactly friendly behaviour.
What we need is all black schools where all the students, faculty and staff are black.
Then everything will be fine and all the students will become Rhodes scholars.
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Worked out great in Detroit.
I guess all we can do is laugh.
Keltecs apparently minimize the threat....
Travis L. Gosa
208 Africana
607.254.3342
Dr. Travis L. Gosa is Assistant Professor of Social Science at Cornell University. He holds faculty appointments in the graduate fields of Africana Studies and Education, and is affiliated with the Cornell Center for the Study of Inequality. Since 2008, he has served on the advisory board of Cornell’s Kugelberg Hip Hop Collection, the largest archive on early hip hop culture in the United States. He teaches courses on hip hop culture, educational inequality, and African American families. Dr. Gosa received his Ph.D. in Sociology from The Johns Hopkins University in 2008, along with a certificate in Social Inequality.
His most recent work has been published with peer-reviewed journals Poetics, Journal of Popular Music Studies, Teacher’s College Record, Popular Music and Society, and the Journal of American Culture. Gosa is also a contributor to several edited anthologies including Social Media: Impact & Usage (Lexington Books, 2011) and Hip-Hop(e): The Cultural Practice and Critical Pedagogy of International Hip-Hop (Peter Lang, 2012). He is an occasional blogger at hiphopedu.com.
He is currently working on two book projects: (1) “Remixing Change”: Hip Hop & Obama, A Critical Reader with Erik Nielson (University of Richmond), and (2) “The School of Hard Knocks”: Hip Hop and the Fight Against Unequal Education.
Born and raised in a small mill town in West Virginia, Travis Gosa shares his geographical roots with African-American thinkers such as Booker T. Washington, Martin Delany, Carter G. Woodson, and Henry Louis (”Skip”) Gates.
At Shepherd College, he majored in Political Science and Sociology and received his B.A in 2002. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from The Johns Hopkins University in 2008, along with a Certificate in Social Inequality. He has been an education policy analyst at both the Maryland State Department of Education and American Institutes for Research in Washington, D.C.
He is a member of the American Sociological Association, and holds memberships in four honors societies including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Alpha Kappa Delta.
Before arriving at Cornell, he taught courses in sociology and education at Williams College.
Gosa’s current research examines the social and cultural worlds of African-American youth. He seeks to understand how the overlapping spheres of family, schooling, and the larger context of race intersect to place black youth at risk while creating advantages for others. In addition, he is interested in how black youth make sense of their own social worlds, particularly how they (re)construct identities and meanings that challenge and/or (re)produce their social status.
He teaches courses on race, education, hip-hop, and the African American family. When he is not doing research, writing, or teaching, Gosa enjoys listening to music, watching reality television, and cooking.
http://africana.cornell.edu/people/gosa.cfm
He also works for Fox
hey a Rhode scholar can be given to anyone, just like the Nobel peace prize...it just takes connections....
bfl
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