In a recent case, a black girl was dragged to court and punished with a 7 p.m. curfew, 16 hours of community service, and apology letter to a fellow student for graffiti on the school gym’s wall. Her white friend, who was caught for the exact same case, was let go.
?She couldn’t eat; she was scared? her grandmother exclaimed. This 12- year- old black kid, Mikia Hutchings, astudent of Dutchtown Middle School in Georgia is, described as a ?very focused? student who follows the rules, and stays on the task by her teachers. However, she isn’t in a good mood after being punished for a minor mistake.
Both the students were fined with $100 against the accusation of vandalism and suspended for a few days. However, the white girl was forgiven after her parents paid the fine. Mikia’s family said they could not pay it. As a result, she had to face disciplinary action and a uniformed officer served her grandmother of trespassing misdemeanor and potentially committing a felony.
It’s a well-known fact that black boys are considered to be more aggressive than those from other ethnicities and are disciplined in a harsher manner. The sick part is that the above case shows that this psychology applies to black girls as well.
As per an analysis, black girls with a darker tone were thrice as likely to be suspended as those with a lighter tone. Lance Hannon, a Villanova sociology professor who conducted the analysis said:
?When a darker-skinned African-American female acts up, there’s a certain concern about their boyish aggressiveness, that they don’t know their place as a female, as a woman.?
The above case is clearly an act of child abuse and racial abuse. Wall graffiti by a minor girl is not such a serious offence and dragging someone to court for such minor acts cannot be called justified. Most of us make mistake,s but then there is a lot of difference between a mistake and an offense. A simple scolding or calling parents should be enough as a deterrent.
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