Battling for ‘The Souls of Black Girls’

When it comes to school discipline, Black girls are significantly more likely to receive harsh treatment than their white female peers, including referrals to enforcement. That’s the conclusion from a new analysis of federal education data by Erica Green and her colleagues at The New York Times. The project was a deeply personal one for Green, who spent two years digging into how racial and gender biases devastate the emotional well-being and academic trajectories of Black girls. How did The Times use data mining to find new insights in  existing data from The U.S. Department of Education? What’s driving the growing shift from focusing on the harsh discipline of Black boys — a problem that still needs intensive attention — to their female counterparts? What studies, research, and nonfiction books helped inform Green’s work? This episode addresses those questions and provides practical advice to local journalists on covering gender and racial disparities in school discipline.