Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.

by Focus Area:

Large poster-size infographic reminiscent of a chalkboard named Counselors Not Cops with the state of North Carolina in white at the top with a yellow line pointing to Wake County. There is a police officer in yellow on the left as a bar graph showing the percentage of SROs in Wake County Schools. 49% of police officers or school resource officers (SROs) are in middle school, 45% are in high school, and 6% are in middle school. On the right, there is a money sign that shatters like glass. Next to this money sign is text that says WCPSS spends roughly a million dollars on SROs from local law enforcement agences. Below, there are a 100 people icons with 73 colored yellow to represent that Black students make up 73% of SRO referrals to juvenile and adult court despite being only 22% of student enrollment. Below this is a stat that says there is one school nurse for 1,752 students (medical icon on the right) and 1 school psychologist for 1,850 students. (brain icon with the right brain in yellow). Below this is a quote in large text: Police brutality doesn't just happen in the streets, it happens in our schools too. - Enloe High School Students At the very bottom is a timeline showing police brutality events in Wake County schools beginning in October 2008 and ending in January 2017.

Black and Latinx students should have a safe learning environment. But for many students of color, school police do not equal safety. In Wake County Public Schools, where there are over 70 hired police officers, 22% of students are Black but they make up 73% of students referred to juvenile or adult court by school police. This culture of criminalizing students of color has led to police brutality that frequently targets Black students with disabilities.

This is why we want counselors, not cops. We want a world where Black and Latinx students receive affirming mental health support. We also want more nurses and Peacebuilders who address student conflicts with restorative justice.

Together, we can create a more loving world for Black and Latinx students. The Youth Justice Project partnered with the Wake County Black Student Coalition, Education Justice Alliance, and the ACLU of North Carolina to release infographics to educate and inspire people to action. Learn about policing in Wake County Public Schools and join our #CounselorsNotCops movement by sharing these infographics with Wake County school board Members.