By Zakiya Sankara-Jabar • Director Racial Justice NOW!
Racial Justice NOW! vehemently condemns the brutalization and victimization of the young Black female student in this video. This is yet another example of why the police and school resource officer’s do not belong in our schools. This is not an isolated incident but this is another example of dehumanization that Black people face on a daily basis and it must stop!
Black students around the nation are over-represented in referrals to law enforcement and Black girls in particular are pushed out of school at 6 times the rate of their white female counterparts and most boy’s with the acceptation of Black male students. No where is this more relevant than here in Ohio where Black children represent over 50% of all out of school suspensions and expulsions. Just last month in Akron a black female middle school student was suspended for 5 day’s for what the teacher called “kool-aid crack”. And earlier this month a Cincinnati area Judge upheld a suspension for a 12 year old Black boy for “staring at a white girl”.
We need strong protections in place that validates the humanity of all our children. We need the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to vigorously enforce civil rights laws of this nation.
RJN! will continue to push at the local, state and federal level for an end to the dehumanization of Black families. We will continue to push for a stronger enforcement of current civil rights laws nationally. We will continue to push the Ohio legislature to end zero-tolerance, and to eliminate racial disparities in school discipline.