In today’s episode of Post-Racial America…
Ryan, a middle school student in Virginia, went back into his cafeteria’s lunch line to grab his carton of milk. Upon seeing the student do this, a Prince William County police officer accused him of stealing the carton. When the cop tried to apprehend Ryan, the middle school student pulled away, which the police officer claimed was Ryan being disorderly. The officer took Ryan into the principal’s office, where the was searched for drugs. Ryan was then apprehended and charged with larceny.
He has also been suspended from school.
It’s an all-too-common narrative in primary schools nationwide. A relatively minor infraction — if, in this case, one was even committed — gets blown out of proportion by administration because of the color of the student’s skin and leads to pending criminal charges for the student. In this case, a 65 cent milk carton is at the center of a young black male being charged with larceny — a 65 cent milk carton he is entitled to under the school’s free lunch program, in which Ryan is enrolled.
Ryan’s mother, Shamise Turk, is fuming over the incident.
“This is ridiculous… this is beyond embarrassing… he’s at home for 65 cents. I’m angry, I’m frustrated, I’m mad. It just went too far. They are charging him with larceny, which I don’t have no understanding as to why he is being charged with larceny, when he was entitled to that milk from the beginning.”
Police have justified Ryan’s larceny charge by saying that the student tried to “conceal” the milk. Shamise Turk denies this claim.
A spokesperson for the school said Ryan was suspended for theft, being disrespectful, and for using his cell phone. The spokesperson explained:
“The need for disciplinary action is determined by how a student behaves throughout any given incident. An appeals process is in place to ensure the fairness of any disciplinary action.”
Ryan is scheduled to appear in juvenile court.
It’s well-documented that students of color are disproportionately reprimanded for their infractions. While a white student in this situation may still be accosted by a police officer in their school if the officer believes they stole something as unimportant as a 65 cent milk carton, the white student would not have been put through the ringer like Ryan has. Black students are four times as likely to be suspended than white students for the same infraction. Research shows that racial biases factor into disciplinary decisions and these biases factor into not only whether or not a student appears in juvenile court, but also their track to higher education.
With incidents like these, it becomes all-too-apparent how much further we need to go.
Featured image by Keith Allison, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
h/t ThinkProgress
