Back to School PB and J Blondies

Each year as a new school year begins and the back to school vibes are pulsing, I remember the excitement (and dread of the summer ending) of this time.. My mom would take us to buy school supplies at Staples and clothes from Old Navy.

I just completed teaching a class at Sacramento State this summer. It was a class about race and ethnicity and one of the topics we covered is the school-to-prison pipeline and its connection to the system of mass incarceration in this country.

The school-to-prison pipeline is the set of institutions and practices by which mainly students of color are funneled from the public education system into the juvenile justice system.

Examples of these practices include: requiring reporting to law enforcement certain student behaviors, criminal penalties for “willful disturbance,” and zero-tolerance policies (practice) in public schools (institution). Zero tolerance policies were introduced in the 1980s to deal with disciplining students for bringing drugs and weapons into their schools. These policies take a punitive approach, often referring students directly to local law authorities, without attempting to address the issue in a more rehabilitative manner. These children who are victims of zero tolerance policies end up aging out of the juvenile system and find themselves back in the adult prison system. The result is an increased presence of brown and black children in the juvenile justice system. Social research has shown (citations can be provided lol) that once a person enters the system of mass incarceration, it is unlikely that they will exit the system. And one they do, they face a litany of challenges and systemic barriers to employment, housing, and mental health, just to mention a few.

One of the main reasons that brown and black children face higher rates of entrance into the juvenile system stem from embedded stereotypes (originating in the institution of slavery and capitalism in the US) of brown and black people.. Racial criminality is a concept that explains the intimate connection between race and crime, underlining how historically, black and brown people have been viewed as more dangerous and more likely to commit crimes — one of the ideas that both perpetuated and justified slavery. Black and brown children and teens are also more likely to be perceived as adults than white children. We have seen this on the national stage with the murder of 12 year old Tamir Rice for example, who was describe as “a guy” and approached by police in a manner not appropriate for a child. Although not often acknowledged, the rate of black girls in the system is increasing. Black girls face different challenges including sexualization and human trafficking.

For many many students in our country, school IS a dangerous place to be. Not only is it dangerous for them, it is a potential path to a life behind bars.

Let these pb and j blondies symbolize the excitement of back to school (for some children) while also being a reminder of the dangers that some kids will face when returning to a system that should be a safe place for them.

PB and J Blondies

Dough:

6 tablespoons butter, melted

brown sugar

sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup all purpose flour

baking powder

baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Jam:

12 ounces frozen raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

squeeze of lemon juice

To make the dough, in the same pot or bowl that you melted the butter in, stir in the sugars until incorporated. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until incorporated. Add peanut butter and stir.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and saltt, and stir until just combined.

To make the jam, in a saucepan over low heat, combine sugar and raspberries. Cook for 30 minutes until raspberries and sugar have thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let cool.

To assemble the bars, in an 8x8 square pan, plop blobs of dough into pan. Dot jam on top across the dough. Press into once flat square. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. These can be a bit tricky - you don’t want to overbake them but you want then baked enough that they aren’t too gooey in the middle. The outside edges of the bars will look more done than the center and that is ok. Once the bars cool they will be gooey (not too gooey) and perfect in the middle. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.