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THE POISE FOUNDATION Nearly 90 local Black-led organizations awarded grants due to pandemic Page A10
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 111 No. 40
Two Sections
SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 6, 2020
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The criminalization of Black girls in Allegheny County is real Report says Black girls 10 times more likely than white girls to be referred to juvenile justice by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
In Allegheny County, Black girls are 10 times more likely than white girls to be referred to juvenile justice. That’s the standout headline from “Understanding and Addressing Institutionalized Inequity: Disrupting Pathways to Juvenile Justice for Black Youth in Allegheny County,” a report recently commissioned by the local Black Girls Equity Alliance. When teens are referred to juvenile justice, it begins the “school-to-prison pipeline,” which has disproportionately affected African American youth across the country. Nationally, the report said, Black youth are three times more likely than their white counterparts to be referred to ju-
venile justice. In 2019, 492 Black girls were referred to Allegheny County’s juvenile justice; 169 white girls were referred, though there are far more white girls in Allegheny County than Black girls. Out of the 492 Black girls that were referred, 155 (32 percent) were referred by the Pittsburgh Public Schools police department. Just 15 white girls (9 percent) were referred to juvenile justice by PPS police. The other leading agencies that referred Black girls to juvenile justice were the Magisterial District Judge (140), Pittsburgh Police (53), McKeesport Police (18) and Monroeville (13). The leading agency that referred white girls to the county’s juvenile justice was the Magisterial Dis-
trict Judge (54). Only 8 white girls were referred by Pittsburgh Police. The report revealed that “the majority of arrests made by PPS police are for minor offenses that are not safety related.” More than half of the Black girls arrested by PPS police resulted in a charge of “disorderly conduct,” which the report calls a “catch-all charge that includes things like excessive noise, obscene gestures or language, or other typical teenage behaviors. It is highly subjective, and there is a wealth of evidence that it is an offense for which implicit and explicit racial biases come into play.” The report revealed that in 2019, all arrests of Pittsburgh Black girls that ultimately resulted solely in a charge of disorderly conduct were made by PPS
KATHI ELLIOTT, DNP, is executive director of Gwen’s Girls Inc., Pittsburgh’s longtime organization that advocates for the betterment of Black girls and young women. Dr. Elliott also was an author in the recent report released by the local Black Girls Equity Alliance, stating that Black girls in Allegheny County are more criminalized than white girls. police. The report also gave data for Black boys, in which they were seven times more likely than white boys to be referred to juvenile justice in Allegheny
County. When it comes to summary citations, Black girls in the county are four times more likely to receive a summary citation than white girls from Pitts-
burgh Police, and 11 times more likely to be issued a citation than white girls from PPS police. SEE BLACK GIRLS A4
Black students at Thomas Jefferson High School call for board member’s resignation Board member allegedly called Black Lives Matter a ‘terrorist organization’ by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
The Black Student Alliance of Jefferson Hills wants West Jefferson Hills School District board member Jill Bertini to resign
ZYAN BARRETT
immediately, and they won’t rest until she does. The West Jefferson Hills School District encompasses the South Hills areas of Pleasant Hills, Jefferson Hills and West Elizabeth. Black students comprise just three percent of the nearly 900 students that attend the well-known Thomas Jefferson High School which anchors the district. Many of them were outraged that a school board member, Bertini, who is white, allegedly took to her personal Facebook page last week to declare that the Black Lives Matter THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS and supporters rallied at the school’s Old Clairton Road entrance on Friday, Sept. 25, movement was “a terrorist protesting comments allegedly made by school board member Jill Bertini on her Facebook page. (Photo by Rob Taylor Jr.)
‘We were all appalled because, as a school leader, you should stand for the students.’ ZYAN BARRETT TJ HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR
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organization.” She allegedly said on her private Facebook account that she has “the right to my opinions and this is how I see it. I am sick and tired of being told what I am allowed to say, feel or think.” Bertini also allegedly said that Joe Biden “isn’t winning just like Hillary (Clinton) wasn’t winning,” the Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace “is not a victim,” and that “there is NO White Privilege, we all
have the exact same American privilege. Work for what you want to achieve!” Bertini then brought slavery into the mix, allegedly saying: “There are no slave owners or slaves still living in America (except for child sex slaves).” “We were all appalled because, as a school board leader, you stand for the students…and for you to say that (former NFL quarterback) Colin Kaepernick’s not a hero, that the Black
Lives Matter movement is a terror organization… terrorism is violence. We’re not violent students at all, but that’s how she made us look,” said Zyan Barrett, a senior at the school and member of the Black Student Alliance of Jefferson Hills. “As a leader, what type of mentality do you have to say this about people that you stand for?... She doesn’t deserve to have kids from ages 5 to 18 in her responsibility. She
doesn’t deserve it at all. We want her to resign.” Barrett made his comments during a rally outside of the Thomas Jefferson school grounds on Friday, Sept. 25. He was joined by other members of the Black Student Alliance, who organized the rally, but were not allowed to protest near the high school. Instead, they congregated at the Thomas Jefferson High SEE THOMAS JEFFERSON A2