A study by the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality is an essential part of the Women in NAACP (WIN) workshop implemented last year at the Pasadena branch to curb “adultification bias,” where adults view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers, starting as young as five years old.
The racially motivated belief is that Black girls need less nurturing, less protection, less support and less comfort. Related studies also show that Black girls are punished at a disproportionate rate in schools and the juvenile justice system, which is reflected in another study by the Government Accountability Office, reporting that in K-12 education, Black girls receive more frequent and more severe discipline in school than other girls.
Black girls often face higher standards
All children make mistakes, but in similar situations, the study found Black girls are treated differently. A white girl’s mistakes might be met with sympathy and understanding, but Black girls are punished because they are held to a more adult standard of behavior, which may be linked to harsher treatment.
“In order to drive change, we are committed to raising awareness and promoting the need for cultural competency training and age-appropriate treatment of Black girls,” says Jouslynn Griffin, chair of the Pasadena WIN workshop program.
Adultification bias erases the distinction between childhood and adulthood, which can have a harmful impact on the lives of Black girls.
“Black girls need to have a childhood in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment where they can dream, lead, and thrive as Black girls. The most important thing is awareness of this bias, and secondly, we need to implement an education program to inform people and change their behaviors,” says Griffin.
Over the summer, the WIN group presented a workshop at PUSD during a staff development day. They are currently exploring the possibility of creating a short informational video for the school through a KLRN-TV video production.
Negative stereotypes of Black women are also projected onto Black girls, which can further contribute to adultification bias. Georgetown focus group participants overwhelmingly confirmed that even when they were young adults, they were viewed as less innocent than their white peers, stereotyped as too loud, aggressive or angry, and seeing Black girls’ actions as threatening and disrespectful.
Ten Pasadena women participate in the all-volunteer WIN adultification bias campaign, conducting free workshops that can be booked through the NAACP office.
Have you ever had a gun pointed at you?
Volunteer Kylene Robinson talks about her experience as a child and her interaction with the Pasadena Police Department during one of the workshops she conducts. Griffin also has her own experiences with adultification bias.
“I started the workshops because of an experience my special education child had with the Pasadena Police Department at Marshall Fundamental Secondary School,” says Griffin. “For a special education student with an IEP (Individualized Education Program), it is the law that there be an emergency plan to support that student, especially if they ever have to be questioned by law enforcement. Their parent must be contacted.”
“My child was a witness to something that happened at the school,” she continues, “not the subject of an investigation, but was treated poorly with bias. We’ve got to inform people who work within our systems about this bias that exists within the PUSD and the Pasadena Police Department.”
While a full outreach program for the school system is in place, the PPD has not formulated one.
“We had a confirmation from the Police Chief about a year ago that he would work with us, and we’ve had four or five follow-up emails, but nothing has happened yet,” Griffin remarked.
The Taisyn Crutchfield Example
Taisyn Crutchfield is a young Black police officer who allegedly was chastised and treated unfairly by her senior officer, all of which was captured on body cam. She is currently suing the PPD, alleging systemic racism in the workplace.
“In our workshops, we talk about the adultification of young Black girls and what it leads to in the workplace for Black women,” says Griffin. “Crutchfield alleges that Black women in law enforcement (and in other workplaces) are treated differently than other women. As a Black woman, if you bring up a certain point in a particular way or tone, it’s aggressive, it’s rude, it’s having a bad attitude. Whereas a white person who makes the same comment is courageous, shows good leadership, etc. We use the Crutchfield allegations as an example in our workshops. The PPD definitely understands what is going on in terms of the adultification of Black girls. The new Chief agreed to work with us but hasn’t followed through yet. We’re going to keep emailing and asking him if he has figured out a way for us to work together.”
A Proposed MOU with the District Attorney
“We were very shocked and surprised at how much the DA’s office knew about adultification bias, how it can lead to sex trafficking, and about the preschool-to-prison pipeline created as a result of the bias that Black girls experience,” says Griffin.
“It was enlightening to speak with one of our elected officials who understands it on such a deep level. There are some Blacks in our K-12 systems who don’t understand it as well. His office is far ahead of the game on this topic. For us to work with his team is just kind of like a cherry on top.”
The WIN team will present their 90-minute workshop to the DA’s executive team to determine its exact place in the DA’s programming.
“After our presentation, we hope to sign an MOU with their office,” Griffin said.
Taking it nationally
Under the WIN-PUSD partnership, PUSD Board of Education member Michelle Richardson-Bailey implemented a resolution recognizing adultification bias as an issue within the PUSD, a resolution to implement an awareness and educational program.
“WIN Pasadena will present this resolution at the California-Hawaii State NAACP convention to be implemented on a local level. From there, we can present it to other branches, and hopefully, the NAACP office will adopt that resolution nationally in the winter,” says Griffin.
“We’ve been working on this issue for two years,” Griffin continued, “so it’s picking up steam. Our little local branch is bringing national-level awareness to this important issue. We’re willing to perfect the workshop and take this show on the road.”
The WIN women feel very passionately about their experiences.
“We all have had children in PUSD,” adds Griffin, “so we not only feel passionately about the issue, but we’ve all experienced adultification bias ourselves.”
