"This incident underscores the 'adultification bias' that young Black girls like Bobbi face in American society... It’s a very pervasive form of bias that does not know boundaries... In emergency rooms, we’re seeing it affect the treatment and diagnosis of Black girls. In schools, we’re seeing it come up in the form of harsher and more frequent discipline against Black girls... While the police handled the situation with Bobbi extremely well, it is also noted of the times where they didn’t – like last year when a Rochester police officer handcuffed a 9-year-old Black girl, put her in the back of a police car, and remarked 'you’re acting like a child' before pepper-spraying her as she cried out for her father." - Rebecca Epstein, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality
With all of the progress that we have made as a society and as human beings, it's truly unfortunate that Black children still aren't held in the same esteem and compassion as all the other children of our nation and the world. It's unfortunate that they aren't looked out for equally and that their tears don't matter. From child welfare to law enforcement, to healthcare, education, and beyond, the experiences of Black children are discounted, discarded and of no concern to far too many.
Read the full CNN article here: https://bit.ly/BlackChildrenMatter
Photo by CNN
