Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol. 2 No. 5

Even before mainstream media, Black women
were tantalized while Black girls watched and
endured their own adultification.
A Georgetown University report found, Black
girls, particularly ages 5 to 14, are seen as
more sexually mature than white girls. This
prejudiced view leads to Black girls becoming
more victims of sexual violence and disbelief
of their trauma. The Women’s Media Center
reports African American girls comprise over
40% of domestic sex trafficking victims in the
U.S.
While running from danger, Black girls
encounter sexual predators capitalizing on the
lack of collective outrage expressed when they
disappear, causing Black girls to go missing and
stay missing.
Although, it is empowering for Black women
to reclaim their repressed sexuality. When it
is being done through tools that men use to
oppress women’s sexuality, it can be a doubleedged
sword. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
points out the dangerous over-sexualization
views of Black women, girls and femmes that
exist in the classroom to the boardroom along
with in the African-American community.
While songs by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion
can be empowering, some Black girls might
believe this is the only way to take ownership
over their bodies that are adultified, forcing
Black girls to get rid of their childhood even
more.
Teachers, and even parents, expect Black girls to
exceed age-appropriate levels of responsibility
at home or assume they don’t need to be
comforted after emotionally distressing events,
according to researchers.
Discriminatory barriers in education limit
educational opportunities for Black girls.
Black girls are suspended at a rate five times
that of white girls, increasing their chances of
incarceration. This disparity is not based solely
on differences in behavior, even in preschool we
see these dangerous racist reactions hurting
Black girls.
The New York Times on April 17, 2020 reports, at
the ripe age of three, one Black girl was labeled
intentionally disruptive by her preschool
teacher who tried to film her and prove to her
mother she was a problem — the teacher never
got the footage, but accused her of pretending
to behave at the sight of the camera.
The Independent on October 24, 2019 reveals
a police officer pushed a Black 11-year-old girl
into a wall and violently forced her to the
ground after she accidentally brushed past a
teacher. Video shows the school resource officer
roughly handling the student — and falsely
accusing her of assault. As a result, the Black
girl experienced a minor concussion along
with scrapes and bruises. The school-to-prison
pipeline is simply another challenge Black girls
face since they are more likely to face harsh
discipline in schools and be exposed to police
violence.
Black girls do not have a childhood even when
at school. The National Women’s Law Center’s
report concludes, Black girls are predominantly
penalized under dress code rules echoing the
anecdotal evidence that every part of Black
girlhood — from their hair to their bodies and
clothing — has the potential to be penalized.
The report explains punishments send
dangerous messages to the community: how a
Black girl looks is more important than what
she thinks.
From the clothing she is critiqued for wearing,
the adultification of her body, to the ultimate
denial of an uninhibited education, a Black
girl’s childhood is filled with trauma no adult
should even endure.
Simply put, defining a Black girl’s childhood is
actually defining what she does not have.
To this day, Black girls are suffocated by societal
bias that seeps into their households, schools,
jobs, and other aspects of their life. This cycle
will continue to deprive Black girls of their
childhood unless society is informed about the
injustices they encounter. It’s time we let Black
girls be what they have always been: children.
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