Storytelling Gallery

Are “black girls less innocent”? Adultification explained

by Khadija Mbowe

Through doll play, an L.A. therapist reminds Black girls of their innocence

by Laura Newberry

Renee Curry ushered four girls into the classroom and asked them to sit on the carpet. They were bright-eyed and giggly, jittery with excitement.

Curry emptied the contents of a large reusable shopping bag onto the floor. The girls, ages 5 to 7, wasted no time. They plunged their hands into a pile of tiny plaid skirts, gingham dresses and sparkly tutus, eagerly selecting their dolls’ first outfits of the day.

“Grab your doll and we’re gonna dress them while we talk,” Curry, now seated on the rug, said as she pulled Black and brown dolls from another bag. The girls let out a collective shriek and claimed the dolls they’d been playing with for the last few weeks.

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Addressing Adultification of Black Pediatric Patients in the Emergency Department: A Framework to Decrease Disparities

Systematic racism and structural discrimination in the United States are factors that have negatively affected the health of Black individuals and families. One form of racism that often goes unrecognized and yet has a profound negative impact on the health and safety of Black children is adultification. Adultification occurs when children are perceived, or treated, as being older than they are.

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The Adultification Of Black Girls

By Julia Soplop

She’s independent. She’s mature. She doesn’t require much help.

These sound like positive qualities for a woman. The problem is when people inappropriately attribute them to young Black girls—not because of individual behavior or maturity level, but as a result of gendered racial bias. The results may negatively influence their paths.

In 2017, The Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law published the first quantitative study examining this phenomenon relating to Black girls, calling it adultification bias. Building on previous research indicating that adults often perceive Black boys as older than they are and punish them accordingly, this study surveyed adults, the majority of whom were white, about their perceptions of Black and white girls.

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We Owe Black Girls Their Innocence: Four Ways We Can Give It Back- Part 2

by Andria Cole
In Part 1, we discussed the process by which Black girl innocence is stolen. Here are some personal and practical ways to give it back:

Crown Them Children

Black children are children. Black girl children are children. And if that concept strikes you as strange, if it makes you uncomfortable, you have quite likely been rocked to sleep by one of white supremacy’s most perverse campaigns to prove journalist and child advocate Stacey Patton’s theory of, “there’s no such thing as a black child.”

In a For Harriet article titled “Killing Black Children is an American Tradition,” Patton explains how and why Black children have been denied the privileges and protections of childhood. It should come as no surprise that the reasons have everything to do with ensuring that white supremacy thrives.

Read the rest of the article here.

Things I needed to hear growing up as a black girl

by Shalom Obisie-Orlu.

I had a lot going on when I was younger. (Spoiler alert: I still do.) I switched high schools as quickly as the weather changes, and struggled through almost every year. Like most kids in the 2000s, I turned to TV and the internet for comfort. I searched long and hard for black girls who were hurting the same way I was, but I couldn’t relate to anything I found.

The world fed me one narrative: that I was a young black woman, and that I was to be a “strong black woman.”
The “strong black woman” stereotype is dangerous. While black women are incredibly strong, I grew up in a world that told me that I couldn’t be anything else.

This can lead to several physical and emotional health problems going unnoticed, or dismissed as something else entirely.

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This exhibit from The Colored Girls Museum is reframing the conversation on Black girlhood

by Elizabeth Wellington

When I was 11, my mother insisted that I continue to wear my hair gathered in pigtails, but I was no longer allowed to play tag with the boys on my block. I was old enough to walk to the corner store alone, yet too young to understand why grown men would stare as I passed them by.

One minute I was a little girl who fancied drop-waist lace dresses and believed in Santa Claus. Then, before I knew it, I was headed full-speed toward womanhood.

Why? My parents were trying to protect my girlhood. In their minds, the longer I looked innocent, the longer I’d actually be innocent. Still, my parents intuitively understood that innocence wasn’t a luxury for Black girls because outside of the safety of our home, we’d be held to different standards than white children. Childlike behaviors like talking too much in school — something I was really good at — would lead to harsher punishments.

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This helpful swipe-through explanation of adultification bias, developed by Context Project on Instagram, is an example of posts you can create and share to raise awareness about adultification bias. You can download and share this post on your social accounts, and tag Context Project, to join the campaign to #endadultificationbias.

The first person an arrested black girl sees is usually a Juvenile Defender who works exclusively for them. Their job is to be the voice of a child during prosecution and to make sure their rights are put first. Defenders are supposed to be the champions of our girls during the justice process and are also the only ones legally allowed to speak to Black girls to get their side of the story. These defenders need to know what adultification bias is and need the tools to fight against it!

Learn more at www.wemeasure.org
Follow us on Instagram: @weMEASUREus

For years, education reform has looked at discipline disparities between Black boys and white boys. However, recent cases have brought to the forefront the ways in which Black girls are disciplined at rates close to those of Black boys — and in some cases, the inequity between Black girls and white girls is greater than that between Black boys and white boys. In this lesson, you will learn about several recent cases of Black girls being disciplined in school, and about the research conducted to illuminate the inequality and encourage activism and change. Then, you will reflect on the themes of the article or watch a portion of a documentary about the issue.

A 2017 study conducted by the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality found that in comparison to White girls, Black girls between the ages of 5 and 14 were perceived as:

• more independent
• knowing more about adult topics and sex
• requiring less nurturing, protection, support, and comfort

These adultifying views of black girls are rooted in historical stereotypes of black women, categorized into three dominant themes, that emerged in the South during slavery:

• Jezebel – hypersexualized, seductive
• Sapphire – loud, aggressive, angry, emasculating
• Mammy – nurturing, self-sacrificing

The following statistics represent the sexual consequences of the adultifiying views of black girls that the Georgetown study found:

• 40% to 60% of black women report being subjected to coercive sexual contact by age 18
• 1 in 4 black girls will be sexually abused before the age of 18.
• African American girls and women 12 years and older experienced higher rates of rape and sexual assault than White, Asian, and Latina girls and women from 2005-2010.

It is apparent that the adultification of black girls is rooted in racism and puts black girls at higher risk for sexual abuse. This is a public health crisis. We must continue to advocate for the protection of black girls and to demand media depictions of black girls and women that do not perpetuate the adultification of black girls.

Now that we understand the adultification of black girls and it’s sexual consequences, let us explore what it means for Black Girls to embrace their sexuality. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control in 2017, an estimated 55% of male and female teens have had sexual intercourse by age 18. This finding suggests that black girls, among other teens, are embracing their sexuality. This also suggests that 45% of black girls and other teens may be practicing abstinence.

How do we understand the difference between the adultification of black girls and embracing sexuality?

An important difference between addultification and embracing sexuallity is the mental health impact. Sexual abuse or trauma are associated with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, substance misuse and eating disorders. Survivors may feel ashamed, guilty or shocked and may also experience flashbacks. If you have been sexually abused, it is important to remember that the abuse was not your fault. Healthy sexual expression is associated with increased confidence; decreased stress, anxiety and depression and improved emotion regulation.

Another important part of this exploration are the conversations that take place between black girls and their parent(s). Adolescents who have open, caring and non-judgmental conversations with their parent(s) about sex are more likely to delay having sex or use condoms and contraceptives. (CDC, 2014) If you have created a safe space for your teen to talk with you about sex, they may also be more likely to talk to you if they have experienced sexual abuse. Open and honest conversations also create a space to define consent and abuse, further empowering teens to know when they have been abused and to report it.

A key theme in this post is respect. Society needs to respect black girls by dismantling racist stereotypes that lead to the adultication of black girls. Black bodies, to include girls, boys, women and men need to be respected. This not only applies to sexual abuse but also violent acts commited by police and white supremacists. Finally, parents are encouraged to show their children that they respect their bodies and autonomy by having safe and healthy discussions about sex. These types of respect may lead to the elimination of the adultification of black girls and healthy sexual expression.

If you have experienced sexual abuse, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) for support. Many therapists specialize in treating sexual trauma. To find a therapist, check out the Therapy for Black Girls Therapist Directory.

In the first study of its kind in 2017, Georgetown researchers found that adults believed Black girls needed less nurturing and protection, were more independent and knew more about sex than white girls of the same age.

“Adultification contributes to a false narrative that Black youths’ transgressions are intentional and malicious, instead of the result of immature decision-making — a key characteristic of childhood,” researchers wrote.

The study asserted that such bias contributes to the harsher treatment of Black girls in the education and juvenile justice systems, and fewer mentorship and leadership opportunities being available to them. Black girls are nearly six times more likely to be suspended than their white counterparts, according to research by the African American Policy Forum and Columbia Law School.

As a therapist, Curry knew that if children aren’t given the time and space to play, imagine, explore and be free of the pressures and stresses of their world, there’s a much higher chance that they will be more childlike as adults.

“They’ll struggle with responsibilities to take care of their own,” Curry said in an interview with The Times. “They’ll struggle with intimacy. They’ll struggle with having conversations with their partners. So we want them to experience childhood at appropriate age levels.”

Curry had observed this early abandonment of childhood firsthand.

In 2018, she helped lead a therapeutic dance program for school-age girls in the Imperial Courts public housing development in Watts. Instead of engaging in what is traditionally thought of as play, the girls interacted by showing each other Instagram posts and YouTube videos. She heard a man in the community casually call one of the girls “woman.”

When Curry got to Crete, she asked the girls she counseled whether they played with dolls. Some said they had a doll at home but were sometimes stopped from playing, and were instead told to take care of a younger sibling or to brush their teeth. One girl said her grandmother sold her doll because her family needed money for rent.

“Playtime from their perspective was like a privilege, and so I just wanted to change that narrative for them,” Curry said.

When she read the Georgetown study on adultification bias, a light bulb went off.

“I totally think this is real. This is a thing,” Curry told Crete Principal Hattie Mitchell after sharing the study with her. “I want to do something.”

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Words of empowerment, submitted by a 21 year old male.

Prosecutors can play a powerful role in ending the effects of Adultification Bias. Watch here to see Florida’s state attorney general publicly establish, as a matter of policy, that she would refuse to approve moving forward with any case of young children arrested for misbehavior in school, specifically to end contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline.

A coalition of organizations in Austin, Texas is combating adultification bias against Black girls in response to the call to action in Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood. Their community has decided on six courses of action:

1. A community empowerment and Girl Scouts recruitment event focusing on Girls of Color
2. The development of an online tool to connect parents and guardians to lawyers when faced with potential criminalizing outcomes
3. Training 50 defense attorneys in Central Texas
4. Pushing for a public health approach to potentially criminalizing behavior in schools
5. Launching a public education campaign
6. Issuing a report with the support of Georgetown University on the impact of the adultification of Black girls in Central Texas.

Read More About the Coalition at Impact Austin