https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085917690204 Urban Education 2020, Vol. 55(10) 1419–1440 © The Author(s) 2017 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0042085917690204 journals.sagepub.com/home/uex Article The Effects of Zero Tolerance Policies on Black Girls: Using Critical Race Feminism and Figured Worlds to Examine School Discipline Dorothy Hines-Datiri 1 and Dorinda J. Carter Andrews 2 Abstract Black girls are more likely to be suspended or expelled through exclusionary discipline than their female counterparts, but continue to be overlooked and understudied. This article presents a case for using critical race feminism and figured worlds as theoretical frameworks for examining the effects of zero tolerance policies on Black girls. We use these frameworks to explore how adults’ implementation of disciplinary policies not only affects the racial and gender identity development of Black girls, but perpetuates anti-Black discipline and represents behavioral responses to White femininity that may not align with Black girls’ femininity and identification with school. Keywords zero tolerance policies, race, identity, cultural responsiveness, Black females, discipline policies, urban education 1 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA 2 Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA Corresponding Author: Dorothy Hines-Datiri, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, University of Kansas, 306 Joseph R. Pearson Hall, 1122 West Campus Road, Lawrence, KS 66049, USA. Email: dhinesd@ku.edu 690204UEX XX X 10.1177/0042085917690204Urban EducationHines-Datiri and Carter Andrews research-article 2017