Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

In both theory and practice, intersectionality is indispensable to Pushout. Intersectional theory informs Morris’s thesis argument that Black girls are uniquely targeted by the pushout phenomenon due to their position as Black and female; she also relies on intersectionality to conduct specific chapter analyses. The theory is also the foundation for the practical solutions in her closing sections. Intersectionality is the most essential theme to Pushout’s function as an educational, active text.

Intersectionality is a social theory that interprets a person’s whole identity as composed of multiple components (i.e., one’s race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, etc.). These different identities intersect and inform each other, creating a composite identity “that shapes how people see themselves as much as how others see them” (23). Each person’s intersectional identity thus plays a significant role in how they live. It is an essential component to both interpersonal relationships as well as one’s position in society; this principle is illustrated by Pushout’s simultaneous analyses of how Black girls’ experience oppression on a systemic scale and through their everyday school relationships.

This understanding of identity and social relationships can be traced back to the early 20th century.