Monique W. Morris: Why black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that
Monique W. Morris: Pourquoi les filles noires sont la cible de sanctions à l’école -- et comment changer cela
As Monique W. Morris writes: "I believe in a justice not associated with any form of oppression. I work for it and I write about it." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I got into a fight at school.
je me suis bagarrée à l'école.
I'd been in a fight,
one happened at school.
about a foot taller than me,
and refused to apologize.
et ne s'est pas excusé.
and I threw him to the ground.
et je l'ai poussé par terre.
reflection of the hurricane
d'agressions sexuelles,
with abandonment
dans d'autres parties de ma vie.
in other spaces in my life.
and boys that had assaulted my body
et garçons qui m'avaient agressée,
I had to be silent about it.
de ne pas en parler.
dans son bureau.
"Monique, what's wrong with you?"
qu'est-ce qui ne va pas chez toi ? »
led with empathy.
they knew I loved to draw,
que j'aimais dessiner,
to help me understand
pour m'aider à comprendre
of my classmate, were disruptive
et celles de mes camarades
they were leading.
de leur communauté.
from going to school the next day.
d'aller à l'école le lendemain,
it didn't keep me from teaching.
d'obtenir mon diplôme ou d'enseigner,
that's shared by many black girls
ce n'est pas la même expérience pour
américaines ou dans le monde.
in which black girls
away from schools ---
excessivement –
they pose to the safety of a school,
compromet la sécurité à l'école,
experiencing schools
and marginalization.
et de marginalisation.
from black girls around the country.
dans tout le pays.
Justice Institute analysis
pour la justice des femmes noires
Department of Education,
le département de l'éducation américain,
who are overrepresented
est surreprésenté
de la discipline à l'école.
of discipline in schools.
experiencing exclusionary discipline
filles ne se font jamais expulser
aren't overrepresented
are the only group of girls
than their white counterparts
de chance que leurs camarades blanches
out-of-school suspensions
than their white and Latinx counterparts
de chance que les blanches ou les latinas
Center on Poverty and Inequality
sur la pauvreté et l'inégalité
why this disparity is taking place
pourquoi ces disparités existent
that black girls experience
les filles noires subissent
de compression d'âge
than their white peers.
que leurs camarades blanches.
to need less nurturing,
ont moins de besoins,
sont mieux informées sur le sexe,
than their white peers.
que leurs camarades blanches.
when girls are as young as five years old.
alors que les filles n'ont que cinq ans.
and the disparity increases over time
s'intensifient au fil du temps
between the ages of 10 and 14.
entre les âges de 10 et 14 ans.
can lead to harsher treatment,
peut entraîner un traitement plus sévère,
quand elle commet une erreur,
quand on lui porte atteinte.
that something is wrong with her,
que c'est elle qui est à tort,
in which she finds herself.
dans lesquelles elle se trouve.
as too loud, too aggressive,
comme trop bruyantes, trop agressives,
in relation to nonblack girls
des filles qui ne sont pas noires
what's going on in this girl's life
par ailleurs dans la vie de cette fille,
Girls High School
with their hair in its natural state,
avec les cheveux au naturel,
the global community for the most part
la majorité de la population
as they stood in their truths.
qui luttaient pour leurs droits.
who saw them as disruptive,
to ask the question,
poser cette question :
if we can't be black in Africa?"
si on ne peut pas l'être en Afrique ? »
with this question.
à cette question.
working to be free
travaillent pour être libres,
dans le paysage de l'espoir
that a safe space to learn provides.
environnement éducatif apporte.
just past their toddler years,
à peine sorties de la maternelle,
for having a tantrum.
à cause d'une crise de colère.
turned away from school
they wear their hair naturally
the clothes fit their bodies.
are experiencing violence
officers in schools.
without reprimand or punishment?
sans réprimande ou sanction ?
de recherche et d'enseignement,
to work with girls like Stacy,
avec des filles comme Stacy,
dans mon livre « Pushout »,
her participation in violence.
participation à la violence.
and structural analyses
neuroscientifiques et structurelles
childhood experiences inform
une enfance défavorable influence
as a "problem child,"
comme une « enfant à problèmes »,
that educators were using
étaient ceux de ses éducateurs
of harm grow stronger in isolation.
de la souffrance
we shouldn't be pushing them away,
il ne faut pas les repousser,
à la protection
with the criminal legal system.
avec le système judiciaire.
out policies and practices
des stratégies et des méthodes
to their learning,
à leur scolarité
that education is freedom work.
l'éducation est le travail de la liberté.
elles peuvent étudier.
elles se battent,
they flee, they freeze.
elles fuient, elles se figent.
to protect us when we feel a threat.
pour nous protéger en cas de menace.
représentera une menace,
in a girl's life,
douloureux de sa vie,
locations for healing,
un environnement apaisant,
locations for learning.
to become a location for healing?
un environnement apaisant ?
that we have to immediately discontinue
il faut immédiatement mettre fin
black girls for their hairstyles or dress.
qui pénalisent les filles noires
and what a girl learns
et la substance de son apprentissage
in ways that facilitate rape culture
tout en promouvant la culture du viol,
à cause de leurs antécédents.
in which they were born.
of concerned adults can enter this work.
concernés peuvent participer.
to address their dress code
leur code vestimentaire,
as a collaborative project,
au sein d'un projet collaboratif
bias and discrimination.
et la discrimination de façon délibérée.
that harm black girls most are unwritten.
ne sont pas flagrantes.
internal work to address the biases
et réévaluer nos propres idées préconçues
black girls for who they actually are,
pour ce qu'elles sont vraiment,
and gender responsive discussion groups
adaptés à toutes les cultures, les genres
Latinas, indigenous girls
latinas, et indigènes
marginalization in schools
la marginalisation à l'école,
and experiences in schools.
et leurs expériences scolaires.
un milieu apaisant,
locations for healing,
dans les écoles.
of counselors in schools.
we all have to be freedom fighters.
il faut tous nous battre pour la liberté.
est qu'il y a des écoles
to establish themselves
dans la création d'établissements
to see themselves as sacred and loved.
sacrées et aimées.
in Columbus, Ohio, is an example of this.
à Columbus, dans l'Ohio,
the moment their principal declared
quand leur principal a déclaré
girls for having "a bad attitude."
pour « mauvais comportement ».
is they built out a robust continuum
un environnement robuste
expulsion and arrest.
expulsions et arrestations.
a restorative justice program,
de justice réparatrice,
student and teacher relationships
élève-enseignant
has at least one adult on campus
d'avoir accès à au moins un adulte
when she's in a moment of crisis.
of the school and in classrooms
et dans les salles de classes
if they need a minute to do so.
pour les filles qui en auraient besoin.
that provides girls with an opportunity
consultatif qui offre aux filles
with the promotion of self-worth,
avec la valorisation de l'estime de soi,
et d'établissement d'objectifs.
to a girl's adverse childhood experiences
aux expériences négatives de l'enfance
they don't push them away.
ils ne les repoussent pas.
and suspension rates have improved,
et les suspensions ont diminué,
increasingly ready to learn
prêtes à étudier,
there care about them.
s'intéressent à elles.
and sports into their curriculum
et le sport au curriculum,
tranformative programming,
mindfulness and meditation,
la pleine conscience et la méditation,
to repair their relationships with others,
leurs relations avec les autres,
complex and historical trauma
vécu, complexe et historique
in the promise of children and adolescents
pour nos enfants et nos adolescents
learning materials,
un support pédagogique,
and other tools
ainsi que d'autres moyens,
to heal, so that they can learn.
pour qu'ils puissent étudier.
we respond to our most vulnerable girls
envers nos filles les plus vulnérables
d'une culture scolaire positive.
of a positive school culture.
should be at its sharpest
de la plus grande précision
of poverty and addiction;
à la pauvreté et à la dépendance,
from having been sex-trafficked
de trafic sexuel,
formes de violence,
son bien-être intellectuel,
to support her intellectual
au genou, à la mi-cuisse ou plus haut.
or stop mid-thigh or higher.
dans un monde
in the politics of fear
dans la politique de la crainte,
where girls can heal and thrive,
se rétablissent et s'épanouissent,
de poursuivre cette intention.
to set this as our intention.
of education as freedom work,
l'éducation est le travail de la liberté,
les conditions scolaires
vulnerable among us,
même la plus vulnérable d'entre nous,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Monique W. Morris - Author, social justice scholarAs Monique W. Morris writes: "I believe in a justice not associated with any form of oppression. I work for it and I write about it."
Why you should listen
Monique W. Morris, EdD, founded and leads the National Black Women's Justice Institute, an organization that works to transform public discourses on the criminalization of Black women, girls and their families. For three decades, she has been involved in social justice advocacy and scholarship, working with research and academic institutions, civil rights organizations, nonprofits, public agencies and activists to advance policies and practices that promote racial and gender equity. She's the author of Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools and other books, publications and articles.
As Morris writes: "My work is ultimately about using research and narratives to challenge actions and structures of oppression. I do this using the tools I have available to me as a researcher, educator, public intellectual, visual artist, writer -- and most recently, filmmaker. I am the author of several academic publications and four books, each of them very different. From a street novel about prostitution to a statistical narrative about African Americans in the 21st century to a book about the criminalization of Black girls in schools, I try to meet people where they are on this journey toward freedom. My latest project, a dive into the pedagogical practices that make education freedom work, explores how schools might become locations of healing for Black and Brown girls. And I love Prince. Always have, always will."
Monique W. Morris | Speaker | TED.com