In 1993, she published a scholarly article that focused on the consequences of a fundamentally discriminatory school system for black females. Directly, she finds that the existence of a subversive, diverse womanhood among African-American women, juxtaposed with a two-tiered dominating patriarchy, influences and often adversely affects academic achievement (Fordham 5). She justifies this assertion through the line of reasoning that gender is repeatedly constructed and negated in culturally and racially stratified social systems. The desire for academic success combined with the negation or suppression of gender diversity among African-American females at Capital High compels them to silence and/or emulate the male dominant “Other” (Fordham 6). Fordham is arguing that because of the social stigmas, misrepresented archetypes, and fundamental patriarchies surrounding black females in United States schools, they are compelled to “pass”, or to impersonate White males and females, to achieve academic …show more content…
Morris in Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. Black girls are seen as “bad girls” because of what they wear, how they speak, and how they behave. In a 2013 scholarly article, Morris further articulates that the struggle to remove the vestiges of segregation fro US schools often under-theorizes the separate and unequal nature of education for youth in secure confinement, and the potential relationship between these facilities and the school push-out that occurs among youth of color in district and community schools (Morris 5). She elucidates this dichotomy by arguing that while academic underperformance and zero tolerance policies are certainly critical components of the pathways to confinement for Black girls, a closer examination reveals that Black girls may also be criminalized for qualities that have been long association with survival (Morris 5). Because of the social stigmas, misrepresented archetypes, and fundamental patriarchies in existence in United States schools, black females are disproportionately disciplined because they exhibit characteristics correlated with “bad