Post #5 Final Thoughts

Hi readers and welcome back for the last time!

I have made it to the end of the book Pushout written by Monique Morris, and as much as I don’t want to stop writing on this blog, all good things must come to an end. Throughout the process of reading, I have learned a number of valuable lessons, and I’m here today to tell you about them!

 
The first lesson this book has taught me was to appreciate my education. For the amount of complaining I do in my life about school (which is the vast majority of my complaints) I have realized how lucky I am to be able to receive a proper education. Many of the stories Morris has explained throughout the novel show that the education system is quite different depending on your skin color. An example of this can be shown through a story that Shelia tells. At the time of the incident, Shelia had just lost a family member and has also been dealing with a wide range of health issues. Because of this, she wasn’t able to complete assignments as fast as everyone else had been able to. Shelia turned to her teacher looking for condolences but found no such thing. Instead of understanding Shelia’s situation, the teacher constantly gave her a hard time. “She was always doing little check-ins, but they always felt more invasive…I noticed that she showed more preferential treatment toward my classmates” (Morris 65). But when someone with a different skin color blew off the assignment because they “didn’t feel like doing it” the teacher looked the other way. “One week, [a White student] just didn’t want to do her notes, and the teacher was like, ‘Oh, that’s okay…’ Well that didn’t happen with me! Why does she get to skip out on this and I don’t?” (Morris 65). The frustration that Shelia shows is reasonable considering that her excuse is much better than a simple “I don’t feel like it”. This all too common theme of Black girls getting discriminated against in schools truly is heartbreaking to me. School is supposed to be a safe place for children to learn and express themselves but instead, these kids are walking on eggshells trying to stay in line and go unnoticed. The novel Pushout raises awareness on the idea that Black school girls are treated differently and are set up to fail, and in reading, I have noticed the countless occurrences that prove this very point.

The second lesson that I learned from reading Pushout was to never judge a book by its cover. As cliche as that sounds, this novel truly shows that it’s what’s on the inside that really counts. All my life I have tried to go day by day without bias towards anyone, but that is a genuinely hard thing to do. Stereotypes and labels are so common these days that it’s difficult not to fall into their traps. Throughout the book, Morris mentions specific words that put all Black girls under a category that makes them out to be “bad” or a “nuisance”. She says that their actions may come off as having an attitude because they are Black and that if White girls did the same things, they would not be considered “rachet” or “ghetto”. The infamous “Black girl attitude” is a stereotype that assumes all African American women are sassy and ill-natured. This can be reflected in school especially when students push back on the teachers. The banter between me and different teachers in my school is a normal daily occurrence. I believe that little jokes and nudges help to enhance the relationship between students and teachers. A personal example I have of this is about mask breaks. As a class, we always joke around with my math teacher and ask for a mask break, even if we just had one. This act that we put on as a class, is light-hearted and not at all serious. We also complain to our math teacher when he gives us too much work and since we all know that it’s a joke, nobody feels disrespected. The development of the relationship between students and teachers is a crucial part of the education system and Morris points out that the stereotype of Black girls can sometimes get in the way. By this, she means that if a Black girl was to joke around and complain about the amount of homework she gets, teachers would not think of it as a joke but rather as an act that is rude, all because of her stereotype. Morris talked to Marcus who is an administrator in the California school system on the topic.“I get referrals for the simplest reasons. For a girl yelling, ‘I don’t understand!’ a teacher replying, ‘Did you come to school to learn?’ earning the retort ‘You come to school to teach?’” (Morris 59). Marcus then goes on to describe the Black girls in the school as “kind of snappy”. That statement right there just goes to show the stereotype that Black girls communicate in a disrespectful way. This negative connotation shown towards girls of color in the school system is not only discriminating but it has a malicious effect on their ability and drives to do well in school. This harmful effect only continues the cycle of “bad attitudes” and “rude” actions. 

The valuable lessons that this book has taught me will stick in my mind as I venture out into the real world. Pushout is an inspiring piece of literature that grasps the attention of readers through compelling stories of Black girls that were mistreated in the school system. Monique Morris makes it clear that the way society treats these young girls sets them up for failure from the start, and that if these prejudiced events don’t stop the future will not be bright. Overall I really enjoyed this experience and I’m glad I could share it with you all!

Thanks for sticking with me on this whole journey :)

Work Cited: 

Morris, Monique W., et al. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. 

    Paperback edition. ed., New York, New Press, 2018.