Don't Shoot
The miseducation of young black males begins very early in the education system. On the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 18% of African American fourth grade students could read proficiently, while 19% demonstrated proficiency in math. The numbers had decreased dramatically by eight grade, reaching only 16% and 13% proficiency respectively (Camera). This decreased literacy feeds directly into the prison pipeline—the majority of adult prisoners are illiterate or have only basic literacy.
Pushout refers to practices, both in and out of schools, that contribute to dropping out. Some of these practices include, high rates of suspension and expulsion, inadequate curriculum, and inadequate resources ("Pushout"). Nationally, African American males receive consistently higher rates of out-of-school suspension (15%) than their white peers (5%). Furthermore, state funding for education is lower than state funding for prisons, even up to $25,000 per individual (Kelly).
Anciso’s work addresses these discrepancies in education quality and equality. The young boy, a student, walks with his hands raised towards three heavily armed police officers. This places the blame for the boy’s miseducation on himself, not on the system that has historically oppressed him and his people. The flowers tangled in the police line distract from the true situation. The viewer’s eyes are drawn to the pink rose, detracting attention from the situation at hand. The boy has done nothing wrong, yet the system has turned on him.
Anciso’s work, Don’t Shoot, is a call for action to repair the injustice of the school system. This work was featured as the cover art for human rights education book Bringing Human Rights to US Classrooms: Exemplary Models from Elementary Grades to University, and this work has been on display at many exhibitions. The American public school system is a system that is rooted in injustice and inequality. American children of color, especially those in areas with large populations of people of color, are subjected to poorer schools with limited resources, while also being subjected to higher rates of suspension and expulsion with no significant difference in behavior to their white peers. Children of color, especially African American males, are far more likely to be behind benchmark standards, while also being more likely to end up incarcerated.