Ring the Alarm: It's Time to Wake Up About Mental Health Issues of Black Youth

(A version of this post first appeared on the citizen.education website.)

The rise in cases of teenage depression and suicide is an alarming one, especially in the Black community. Published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, a new study by Rutgers University shows that Black teenagers face racial discrimination up to five time a day on average, and said discrimination often leads to depression. With the recent increase in awareness toward mental health and well being, this kind of information is critical in the fight to save and improve lives.
 
Recent headlines lend an unwelcome validity to the study; the uptick of Black children committing suicide is particularly disturbing, and constant discrimination adds more fuel to an already dangerous fire. The difficulty of navigating adolescence has become increasingly demanding in the current age of technology. The trend of schoolyard bullying has now become an inescapable form of constant, consistent torture. Long gone are the days where name calling and physical confrontations were limited to school hours. In the smartphone age the malice follows teens everywhere they go, hitching a ride in their pockets from school to every corner of their existence by being preserved and amplified on social media. Kids can no longer evade the taunting of their peers, and the badgering is no longer contained to their specific school, peer group, extracurricular hobbies, town, state, country, or even continent. Multiply bullying by the current racial climate in this country, add socio-economic factors (such as poverty and violence) to the mix, and you have a formula for disaster.

Consider the tragic story of Bryce Gowdy, the 17 year old Floridian football star, who was days away from enrolling at Georgia Tech on a football scholarship. Gowdy had been beset by mental health issues, and his family had recently become homeless. He was already under the pressure of maintaining his 3.73 GPA and trying to take care of his mother and siblings; Imagine what other discrimination based pressures a 6’3”, 207 pound, Black, dreadlocked, man-child living in the state of Florida encountered daily. According to the study, it would be safe to assume it was five times more than a white man-child. Bryce stood in front of a train one night to put an end to his suffering.

Weeks earlier, Zachary Winston, a 19 year old basketball player for Albion College in Michigan, did the same. Winston was also one of three Black students who all attended the same predominantly white high school in Michigan, and had all committed suicide within the span of two months. Again, the findings of the Rutgers study prove valid. As Black children experiencing a heightned level of discrimination daily, compounded with the challenges of modern adolescence, there is ample reasoning to conclude their mental health and well being was very much affected by race based inequity.

Dr. Michael A. Lindsey, Executive Director of the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, worked with the Congressional Black Caucus on a study performed by the Emergency Task Force on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health. He was made aware of the disturbing Michigan high school trend by concerned parents, while waiting for the CBC to release the December 2019 report. In a Washington Post article, he is quoted as saying “It’s the thousand-pound elephant in the room that we’re not talking about…We think that black kids aren’t doing that — that’s something white folks do. Some of my research — and that of others — has pointed out that, no, that’s not the case. More and more black kids are doing this.”

The pressures of growing up in America are innumerably expanded for Black kids; Their experiences with heightened discrimination has been proven time and time again to affect their mental health, leading to depression and climbing suicide rates. If we are to impede this statistic, we must first accept that Black kids are seen in a different manner, thought about in a different manner, and treated in a different manner in this country, and that difference is literally killing them. As stated by professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “For all we hear about black men — the descriptions, the characters of thugs, of hard life — we never hear about the trauma, the pain, the humiliation, the suffering, the stress, the depression of what it must be like to be considered less than human by the society into which you were born. We never hear, for example, that for young black men age 15 to 24 suicide is the third-leading cause of death.” To draw on the title of Dr. Lindsey’s study: it’s time to “Ring the Alarm” on the mental health and well being of Black kids in this country, and help end this nightmare. 

Slavery In Schools

(A version of this post first appeared on the citizen.education website.)

Pssst…American school teachers. Lemme holla at you right quick. Has there been some sort of collective agreement to always miss the mark when it comes to your Black students? Was there a vote taken to initiate an intentional push toward ignorance and insensitivity? A national mandate on “Making America Great” that necessitates the indoctrination of certain concepts, in order to roll our country back to its former financial glory? Either way, you got some ‘splainin to do, since a lot of you seem to have lost your collective, raggedy, rabid ass minds when it comes to the subject of American race-based slavery.

On Tuesday, news outlets released the UMPTEENTH story circulating on the internet of school teachers being completely obtuse when it comes to the topic of slavery. It seems that these misguided mishaps occur when teachers attempt to mix the history of what President Lincoln referred to as “the peculiar institution” with any other subject.

From as early as KINDERGARTEN, teachers seem to possess a desire to inform their students about slavery—which, at face value, seems noble, important, and responsible. The scourge of race-based slavery is one that our country has yet to reckon with or atone for; awareness is vital as early as possible in order to fully grasp the issue. Children should know about American slavery in order to recognize the systems it birthed, and how the descendants of this horrible, inhumane enterprise are still affected by them daily.

The problem, however, is that a LOT of teachers don’t treat the subject properly or with the correct amount of reverence. These particular instructors, in charge of shaping young minds and perspectives for the future, appear to have a desire to normalize the horrors of slavery while idealizing the profits of slavery, all in an effort to standardize the practice of slavery with every other capitalistic enterprise America has participated in. Don’t believe me? Just watch.
  
From PE teachers asking children to pretend they are on the underground railroad to escape slavery as a measure of their physical skills and teamwork;
-Or teachers who asked children to participate in a mock slave auction, where the 5th graders pretended “to put imaginary chains along our necks and wrists, and shackles on our ankles” and were bid on by their White classmates;
-Manhattan teachers assigning homework that asks: “One slave got whipped five times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month (31 days)?” And questions about a ship filled with 3,799 slaves, asking "One day, the slaves took over the ship. 1,897 are dead. How many slaves are alive?”;
-Georgia teachers handing out worksheets that read: “Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?”;
-In Texas, children are asked to weigh the "positive" and negative aspects of slavery—yes, you read that right.
-Wisconsin fourth graders were challenged to give three “good” reasons and three bad reasons for slavery—yes, yes…you read that correctly as well.
-Eighth graders in Tennessee are told to "create a political cartoon depicting immigrant labor in the United States" and write songs or poems to "compare and contrast the lives of plantation owners and their slave population.”;
-In South Carolina, children on a field trip corresponding to a lesson on the Great Depression, were told to pick cotton and sing songs with lyrics such as "I like it when you fill the sack. I like it when you don't talk back. Make money for me.”;
-Lessons on the 3/5ths compromise in North Carolina, asked students how many slaves would be needed to equal at least four White people;
-And when teaching elementary students about Westward Expansion in Missouri, the assignment reads: ”You own a plantation or farm and therefore need more workers. You begin to get involved in the slave trade industry and have slaves work on your farm. Your product to trade is slaves. Set your price for a slave. These could be worth a lot.” Your product. Could be.

What. The Actual. Fuck.

You know…I could wax poetic about all of this, identifying the dangers of not having teachers with the proper awareness, empathy, or sensitivity imprinting the ridiculous concept that slavery was just a “thing that happened the past” on our youth. I could type scathing takedowns of the educational system’s complicity in perpetuating the disregard our country shows toward one of its most heinous profit ventures—including examples of how Texas Textbooks were edited to refashion the Atlantic Slave Trade as “immigration” for “workers”. I could talk about how racism, classism, and systematic oppression will never be conquered if this is what we are feeding our children from the onset of their educational careers. I could talk about how these types of assignments eat away at Black children’s self-esteem while building superiority complexes in White children. I could even talk about how these incidents, widespread and repetitive, erode the trust parents have in the school system when it comes to properly educating their children. But I’m not gonna do that today.

What I am gonna do, however, is simply ask the question: IS YOU IGNANT? Maybe a lapse in proper spelling and grammar will alert you to the ABSURDITY of this situation. If you are not teaching slavery within the proper context: how HUMAN BEINGS were kidnapped, sold as chattel, forced to work in horrendous conditions for no pay while making their owners and this entire country financially formidable, intentionally bred like livestock to continue the trend for 250 years, raped and murdered at the will of Whites throughout those 250 years (and beyond), and how half the nation literally went to WAR in order to continue treating Black humans this way, then YOU DON’T NEED TO TEACH ANYTHING ABOUT SLAVERY, PERIOD. 

Stop asking Black children to romanticize the barbaric treatment of their ancestors. Stop asking Black children to dehumanize their ancestors. It amazes me DAILY how White people are the most ardent champions of anthropomorphizing pets, yet cannot attribute humanity to fellow human beings that possess melanin. Stop asking Black children to envision their ancestors as items in a math problem used to profit White people. Stop asking Black children to put themselves in the shoes of their ancestors fleeing from the unspeakable horrors of being torn apart by dogs, or hanged from their necks and burned while still breathing. Stop asking Black children to compartmentalize the repugnant hatred White people have for them and their ancestors as history. It is not history. It is ever present, it is tangible, and it is real. Stop asking Black children to be a lesson, while FREQUENTLY FAILING TO TEACH WHITE CHILDREN ONE.

This trend has to stop. Now. There are numerous resources teachers can consult to better inform themselves on how to tackle the sordid subject of race in this country. (Links to just a few are provided here, here, and here.) Maybe by doing so, they will arm themselves with a better approach to teaching about American slavery. Until then, parents and caregivers must remain diligent in calling out these preposterous assignments, and the teachers who hand them out in the name of education.

The Persecution of #BlackGirlMagic

(A version of this post first appeared on the citizen.education website.)

Imagine, as a little girl, you are told you are full of magic. That the women who came before you were also magic, and did magical things like breaking ceilings made of glass. That no matter what obstacle you face, as long as you magically lean in, you have the chance to overcome; propelled by the spirit of sisterhood, guided by goddesses and fairy godmothers, saturated with super-powered sugar, spice and everything nice, because that’s what little girls are made of. Imagine you are told you are special, unique and treasured; that your voice is worthy and strong. It is your connection to your magic and you should never, under any circumstances, allow anyone to take it away from you.

Now imagine, as a little girl, for seven hours of the day, five days a week, you are sent to a place where you are told your magic is too much. It makes no sense to you, because you aren’t doing anything differently than your peers, but you…look different. Which makes your magic…different. You’re told it’s not the right kind of magic, not the acceptable magic. It doesn’t match the other girls’ magic. It’s too big, even when you shrink yourself. It’s too loud, even when you whisper. It’s too strong, even when you’re not moving. (This video of fired School Resource Officer Ben Fields attacking a girl is an unpleasant example of that.) Your magic is perceived as dark magic: malevolent and vicious. Unseemly and uncouth, meant only for disruption and defiance. It’s a magic that seeps into your tone and your mannerisms, your hairstyles and clothing. It must be contained and disciplined at all costs.

Your magic scares the people who don’t understand it, and as a result, you are subjected to unnecessary and egregious chastisement, in an effort to subdue your voice, if not completely destroy it.

Dr. Monique Morris has spent years researching the trend of Black girls being more harshly disciplined in school than their white peers, and in a new documentary Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (based on her book of the same title), she explores why. Interviewing over 150 girls, educators, and justice professionals, Dr. Morris unpacks the numerous biases Black girls face in the classroom. Numerous studies have shown the disparity in discipline toward minority students, Black students in particular. Data collected in 2009-10 representative of approximately 85% of the nation’s students, show that in areas where Black students made up less than a fifth of the enrollment (18%), they account for the majority of students suspended once or more than once (81% combined), and almost half of all expulsions (39%). A more recent study from the National Women’s Law Center shows that Black girls are five times more likely to be suspended and six times more likely to be expelled than white girls.

Ironically, recent studies have also shown that Black women earn more degrees than any other demographic in this country when characterized by race and gender. The National Center for Education Statistics released information that shows Black women leading in the amount of conferred degrees, earning 66% of bachelor’s degrees, 71% of master’s degrees, and 65% of all doctorate degrees. These numbers have been on the rise for the past twenty years.

Comparison of this data could lead a conspiracy theorist to believe a calculated effort to halt this particular trend has been implemented in classrooms across the nation. They could argue the racist origins of this country have manifested themselves into TORs, IEPs, dress codes targeting Black hairstyles, and zero tolerance policies, all in order to stifle Black students. Their culture, heritage, religions, and language are heavily policed via disciplinary guidelines that were written without their culture, heritage, religions or language in mind. One doesn’t need to be a conspiracy theorist, however, to admit the efforts to suppress minority progress in this country are ever-present, calculated or not. And they have been effective since the beginning.

In the late 1600’s scared white men, fueled by hysteria, came to the conclusion that a Caribbean slave named Tituba “bewitched” two small girls (who had probably ingested toxic fungus, causing them to vomit and have seizures). Tituba is the first woman to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. It was later discovered that her “confession” was not only coached, but beat out of her by slave master Samuel Parris. She remained imprisoned until someone purchased her, and was then lost to history. Dozens of other people suffered during the trials, true—but it’s important to note that the first person was the one that was…different. The fear of Tituba’s cultural differences created a maelstrom that destroyed a community.

America was afraid of the different girl then, and they remain afraid. Yet with Black women being hailed as “The Most Educated Group in the US,” despite all the disciplinary disparities intended to trip them up, one thing is clear: #BlackGirlMagic is real. 

White Teachers + Black History = Miseducation

(A version of this post first appeared on the citizen education website.)

Dear Caucasian Teachers:

Let’s gather in a circle of safety, shall we? Everyone come and sit criss cross applesauce on the sharing mat, open two eyes, open two ears, and close one mouth. Now, take a deep, cleansing breath in…and gently blow it out. You ready? Let’s begin.

THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? HAVE YOU ALL LOST YOUR ENTIRE RABID ASS MINDS? DO YOU NOT REALIZE YOU ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR SHAPING THE YOUNG MINDS OF THIS COUNTRY, AND IMPARTING UPON THEM THE PROPER GRAVITY OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN OUR HISTORY? WHAT MANNER OF INEPTITUDE ARE WE DEALING WITH IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM RIGHT NOW?!?

This latest example of educational incompetence emerges from the Freeport School District in Long Island, NY. Ah, the Liberal Northeast: where racists don’t ever think they’re being racist, because…geography. *eye roll*

Here we have an unidentified, white, eighth grade teacher who decided to ask her students for “funny captions” on Slave and Reconstruction Era photos of Black people. The teacher has been quoted as telling the children “don’t bore me” with their captions for the assignment. Many of the Black students at the school took issue with this, and when they got home, so did their parents and caretakers. The assignment was posted to social media, as it damn well should have been, and the community also expressed it’s displeasure with the demeaning and denigrating homework.

The unidentified teacher, who has taught in the district for 20 years (and, according to older students who attended this same middle school, has done this type of thing before), was “administratively reassigned” in light of the investigation into her actions (for the uninitiated, “administratively reassigned” means she isn’t teaching in a classroom, but is still employed, assigned duties, and getting a paycheck). She also issued an apology which, ironically, was VERY boring and boiler plate in it’s execution: "As a teacher and fellow member of this school community, it is my responsibility to exercise the highest degree of care and thought in all of my student and staff interactions. I failed to do so last week, and I fully accept that I must work hard to rebuild trust from my students, colleagues and the community.”

Girl, BYE. First of all, if you had even put the LOWEST DEGREE of care and thought into the Slavery and Reconstruction Eras of our nation, you would know there was absolutely NOTHING FUNNY about EITHER. ESPECIALLY not in the weary, worn, abused, and oppressed faces of those who had to live through those horrors. However, for one to realize that the inhumane acts of slavery and sharecropping contained no humor, one would also have to respect the race of people who endured said inhumane acts. This is a character flaw many, and I mean MANY people who are not of African descent in this country possess. The lack of reverence, empathy, and respect for what Black people have experienced on this continent from 1619 to 2019 is staggering. It’s almost like…no one is teaching about it properly. *blank stare*

Most students have a love/hate relationship with the subject of History, and in the age of twitter and hashtags, educators have turned to unconventional tactics in order to engage the students. This “funny caption” assignment could have possibly been an attempt to replicate the activity a Huntsville, Alabama teacher used to highlight events of the American Revolution as if they were on Twitter. Hypothetical tweets from General George Washington to George Cornwallis that read “Guess we’ll have to call the war the American ‘Revoution” because y’all took that L. #independence” made for a hilariously memorable teaching aid. The difference here, however, is that no one’s humanity is being disparaged in the act. There are certain historical events that should never be viewed through a lens so cloudy and casual as comedy. Slavery and sharecropping are two such events. No one would ever treat the Holocaust with such irreverence, and many suspect it is because white people empathize with Jewish people more than with Black people. One wonders why. *blank stare*

 The superintendent of Freeport Schools, Dr. Kishore Kuncham, had this to say about the incident:
“Let me be perfectly clear: Our investigation has determined that this lesson was poorly conceived and executed…Aside from the fact that this is a poor lesson, it is an insensitive trivialization of a deeply painful era for African Americans in this country, and it is unacceptable…The emotional and social wellness of our students is always our highest priority and we take any insensitive comments made by staff very seriously.”

Let’s hope when the investigation is completed, this teacher learns a valuable lesson in history, respect, culture, and how not to devalue the Black experience in America.