A new study hopes to bring national attention to the plight of African American girls. The African American Policy Forum (AAPF) is releasing new statistics about the racial disparity African American girls face in school. While black boys are suspended three times as often as white boys, African American girls are suspended six times as often as white girls.

According to AAPF’s executive director, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, society has held a “two-decade long discussion” about the unfair treatment black boys experience, but she says, “The issue of black girls falls between the cracks.”

Crenshaw co-authored a report, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected. The report directs the African American community and others to devote attention to the challenges girls of color face in school. She describes Black girls are “doubly vulnerable.” She explains that like white girls, they face gender stereotypes. And, like black boys, they face racial stereotypes.