In my first semester of college, a dorm mate commented to me how “ethnic” my friends from high school were. Confused by the statement, I looked at the picture they were referencing — seeing my friends, I didn’t see what they noticed most — a Filipino American, a Japanese Dutch American, an Indian American, and me. Yet, I know that my friends on a daily basis, even in their childhood, were met by assumptions and treatment due to their race that I did not have to manage as a white American. Although my best friend may have experienced sexism as I did, she faced additional, intersectional layers of discrimination due to her race that I will never know through first hand experience.
The mission of the YWCA is to empower women and eliminate racism. For more than 150 years nationally, and more than 100 years locally, the YWCA has been providing programming and advocacy for women’s rights and civil rights. As it works toward the elimination of racism, the YWCA seeks to educate and transform communities, systems, and public policy. In particular, the YWCA nationally has been focusing on the unique issues faced by girls of color.
Overall, girls experience higher rates of adverse childhood experiences — trauma such as sexual abuse, emotional neglect, domestic violence, or substance abuse among household members. Exposure to multiple traumas can negatively impact school performance and can have negative lifelong consequences for physical and emotional health. Girls who have experienced trauma may act out behaviorally in school, and are then referred to the juvenile justice system. Due to budget cuts, schools have fewer psychologists, social workers, and counselors who might provide support to students struggling with trauma or other needs before their behavior leads to punishable offenses. Black girls are suspended at higher rates (12 percent) than girls of any other race or ethnicity, and at higher rates than white boys (6 percent) or white girls (2 percent). American Indian/Native Alaskan girls (7 percent) and Latinas (4 percent) are also suspended at rates that exceed those of white girls.
[For more of this story, written by Rev. Katherine Randall, go to http://www.bradfordera.com/opi...cb-9b0d2f795ede.html]
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