Schools in American Cities
Reading: "Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools"
by: Monique W. Morris
Spring 2019
When reflecting back on my time in the course “Schools in American Cities,” which I took during my first semester in the Education Department, I was surprised to find that my artifact was, in fact, a shift in the vocabulary that I use when discussing matters of student retention and systematic inequality in the educational system that was inspired by the reading “Pushout” by Monique W. Morris. While the immediate power in this piece comes from the striking and saddening analysis provided by Morris, which demonstrates the disproportionate ways in which young Black girls are criminalized in the American school system and often, as a result, “push[ed] out” of it, I was ultimately stricken by the powerful use of the term “push out” to describe this phenomenon.
When an individual is “push[ed] out” of something, there is a clear and identifiable imbalance of power which has enabled the agent in power — in this case the school system — to forcibly remove a second actor — in this case young Black girls — from a given environment. In this case, the forced removal of the students further exacerbates the power imbalance that exists between the two, thus not only robbing Black girls of educational experiences but also placing them further at risk of continued, disproportionate discriminatory practices that perpetuate systematic oppression.
In my own study of education, I have taken this concept along with the understanding of power imbalances that it creates and continued to apply the term “push out” to other areas of systematic, academic injustices that result in issues of academic retention. For example, when taken in the context of the various academic studies that have proven a disconnect between the cultural capital expected by the American school system and the valuable cultural backgrounds and identities held by students of marginalized backgrounds, the using the term “push out” allows due attention to be given to the role of the institution in failing to truly nurture students in the fullness of their identities. As a result, the blame for issues of student retention, which has historically been placed on students from underrepresented communities, can be understood instead as a question of institutional power, thus allowing schools to be held responsible for enacting injustices upon their students. This was the approach I originally intended to take when framing my research project on FGLI student retention rates; I was able to conceptualize my research in such a manner directly because of the influence of Morris’ theory and writing.
This, again, marks a transition in my thinking, as I was not able to note the subversive quality of the piece when I first read it last spring. Again, however, because of my newfound ability to hone in on the structures and systems that underpin education, I have found myself increasingly able to assign responsibility to institutions in issues that have been historically represented as the failures of individuals or individual groups of people. This is ultimately important considering my current focus on subversive empowerment in education; I owe this capacity simply to having been exposed to the term "push out" in such a salient piece of literature.