Centering Black Girls' Epistemologies in Restorative Justice Practices

• In Event: Antiracist Pathways to Construction of Justice in Education

Abstract

Black girls have been effectively pushed out of schools by modes of suspension and expulsion, experiencing the “mental lashes” of zero tolerance policies since their implementation. While new measures of positive discipline, such as restorative justice surface to eradicate student push-out and build trust and community, Black girls remain overlooked and de-centered in the work of restorative justice practices. This paper argues that the use of Black girls’ epistemologies are vital in the work being done through restorative practices. Through a review of the literature, we analyze the ways in which Black girls’ epistemologies have been made invisible and offer implications for incorporating inclusive methods that center their ways of knowing and being in restorative practices.

Authors

• Cierra Presberry, Michigan State University

• Courtney Camille Mauldin, Michigan State University