“Maybe if they let us tell the story I wouldn’t have gotten suspended”: Understanding Black students’ and parents’ perceptions of school discipline

While studies confirm educators and administrators suspend Black students from school at disproportionate rates, few have explored Black students’ and their parents’ perceptions of school discipline. Using Critical Race Theory as a framework, I interview thirty Black students and thirty parents of Black students who received an out-of-school suspension from a primarily Black high school (PBHS) in southeast Michigan during the 2016–2017 academic...