Ma’Khia Bryant ‘Adultified’ Because She Was A ‘Big Girl,’ Rutgers Professor Says; Describes Attempted Stabbing As ‘Regular Old Everyday Community Conflict’

A Rutgers University associate professor of gender and Africana studies argued Thursday that Ma’Khia Bryant is being “adultified” because she was “a big girl.”

Responding to MSNBC host Joy Reid, who suggested that people believe 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant deserved to die, professor Brittney Cooper said, “Look, the arguments for our movement have never been that black people have to be perfect in order for them to deserve dignity, for us to have good policing, for us to be viewed with humanity, for cops to take a breath before they literally get out of the car, guns blazing.”