Urban Education Reflection

I needed solutions. Looking forward to starting my graduate studies that fall in the Minority and Urban Education program at the University of Maryland, College Park, I knew right away what I wanted to focus on. But as I began my research, I became dissatisfied with the lack of gender- and race-based studies done for Black girls in urban education settings. We were trapped in the intersection of race and gender—where studies on Black youth primarily focused on issues centered on Black boys and the studies on girls mainly focused on the challenges faced by White girls. All the literature I read up to this point implied that Black girls were doing just fine, simply because their suspension rates were slightly lower than their male counterparts and their graduation rates were slightly higher. Yet when looking at the larger picture, at the intersections of race and gender, and even sexuality and gender identity, Black girls were still fighting unique …show more content…
After turning in her project, the teacher warned her that if she “acted up” she would receive a zero. The girls said Shavon tried to be quite the entire class but was caught talking during a writing assignment. As punishment, the teacher tore up her assignment right in front of her face. Enraged, Shavon called the teacher every name in the book and threatened her. She was physically removed from the classroom and was issued a forty-five-day suspension for making violent threats and insubordination. She served out her sentence at an alternative school. I did not see Shavon until the next school year. Now a high school student, she tried to adjust to her new setting but had a difficult time trusting teachers—understandably so. She told me stories about her current teachers cursing at her class for talking too much. She also heard the counselor call her “fast” after she was caught hugging her boyfriend in the