Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

In both theory and practice, intersectionality is indispensable to Pushout. Intersectional theory informs Morris’s thesis argument that Black girls are uniquely targeted by the pushout phenomenon due to their position as Black and female; she also relies on intersectionality to conduct specific chapter analyses. The theory is also the foundation for the practical solutions in her closing sections. Intersectionality is the most essential theme to Pushout’s function as an educational, active text.

Intersectionality is a social theory that interprets a person’s whole identity as composed of multiple components (i.e., one’s race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, etc.). These different identities intersect and inform each other, creating a composite identity “that shapes how people see themselves as much as how others see them” (23). Each person’s intersectional identity thus plays a significant role in how they live. It is an essential component to both interpersonal relationships as well as one’s position in society; this principle is illustrated by Pushout’s simultaneous analyses of how Black girls’ experience oppression on a systemic scale and through their everyday school relationships.

This understanding of identity and social relationships can be traced back to the early 20th century. The first chapter does so by incorporating W. E. B. DuBois’s concept of “double consciousness” into the definition of intersectional theory. DuBois explored double consciousness in his seminal work from 1903, The Souls of Black Folk. In this text, he described the feeling of navigating American culture as a Black man: “It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness […] One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body” (DuBois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 8). DuBois was among the first to articulate how multiple facets of his selfhood—these being his American-ness and Blackness—interacted to compose his whole identity. DuBois lamented that because of the country’s racist system, his Black American identity was cleaved into warring halves. Though the terminology of “intersectional theory” had yet to be invented, DuBois’s interrogation of identity and how the different facets of self—particularly in regard to race—influence one’s situation in American society paved the way for future scholarship on the topic.

Intersectionality did not truly rise to prominence as an academic theory until the late 20th century, when discussions of civil rights grew to include movements that were specific to certain races and ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, etc. Although the specific term “intersectionality” was not coined until 1989 by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, there was a significant movement of scholars, activists, and community leaders who championed intersectional work and theory from the mid-to-late 20th century. One prominent scholar who advanced the theory before its technical “invention” was Angela Davis. Davis was a key member of the Black Panther Party, a revolutionary Black organization in the late 1960s and 70s that represented the era’s radical growth of civil rights and its efforts to build an inclusive form of social justice. The Black Panther Party itself was founded on intersectionality, as the Party fought for liberation from racial, gendered, and class-based oppressions. Angela Davis built off of the Party’s goals and worked, in particular, to advance the discussions on the intersection between race and gender. This is reflected in her foundational 1981 work, Women, Race & Class, which studied the role of race and class in the history of women’s liberation in the United States. This work has clear connections to Morris’s research, particularly in chapters such as “The Meaning of Emancipation According to Black Women.” The chapter includes analysis of the unique physical and emotional burdens (such as long work days, verbal assault, and sexual abuse) suffered by Black women who worked in domestic service in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Davis’ argument—that Black women suffered uniquely because of their situations as Black and female—mirrors the argument made in Pushout. The historical through-line between their research illustrates intersectionality’s expansive academic legacy.

One of the prime assertions made in Pushout is that “gender has become the third primary ‘consciousness’ informing the experiences of Black women and girls” (29). This perspective connects directly to both DuBois and Davis. Utilizing DuBois’s language identifying multiple sites of “consciousness” to visualize intersectional identity, Morris draws from Angela Davis’ framework and creates new insight with her own argument. Just as DuBois felt the tension between his Blackness and American-ness, Morris asserts that Black females feel their own, unique turmoil as their race and gender identities are at war with the racist, sexist attitudes they have internalized as a result of being raised in the United States.

Morris uses this intersectional perspective—arguing for gender as a third consciousness—as the foundation for all of her solutions put forth in the closing portion of her book. Appendix B, for instance, has an entire section of analysis that reads theories of restorative justice in context of Black girls; Chapter 5 also names a race-conscious gender analysis as its first proposal for an immediately actionable solution. The text’s applications of intersectionality transcend theoretical analysis and are incorporated into the book’s practical elements; this theory forms the very spine of Morris’s work, unifying socio-political analyses with the ultimate goal to revolutionize American education. Morris strikes a dynamic conversation with historical intersectional scholarship, and she uses her theoretical arguments to offer practical solutions. This fruitful balance of theory and action makes Pushout an important addition to the discipline of intersectional theory and research.