Countering the Adultification of Black Girls

Last fall, in a middle school in North Carolina, a 14-year-old African American girl claimed that she was not feeling well, so she obtained a hall pass from her teacher and went to make a phone call to her mother. A white school resource officer intervened when he saw her, preventing her from making the call. He allegedly followed her outside and, according to the girl, shoved her to the ground and held her face against the hot pavement as he handcuffed and arrested her. Once the incident went public, many in the community expressed concern.

"This officer did not see this child as he would his own child," stated a minister, who saw race as a driving factor in the treatment of the teenage girl.