I agree with Roberts, “… we should pay attention to the
risks separating children from their families (18). It can be more damaging. I
think there is lack of resources or services available in their locations which
Roberts mentions too. People tend to label blacks as aggressive, lazy and uncooperative.
Roberts thinks racial disparity comes from differences in the way systems treat
Black families (26). Like high rates of poverty or unwed mothers. Even when
blacks are trying to do what is right they still get overlooked like when Devon
reported that her caseworker was unprofessional and argued with the doctor, the
caseworker took away the children (12).
The things that caught my attention and could be factors
that contribute to the racial disparities from this reading by Roberts are that
a way to solve the issue of rising black children that were taken away from
their parents is to increase the adoption popularity (7). I see this in the way
that they do not want black families to be families and agencies would rather
remove the children and put them into foster care or adoption. They don’t try
to resolve or help out the parents. Blacks are not given a chance. It makes me
reflect on social structures in our society. There are systems designed to deal
with problems of minority families. People who we rely on to support us, “…many
caseworkers, lawyers, and judges work every day in the belly of this system
without speaking out shows just how accustomed we have become to racial separation
in America (10).” Roberts uses people’s stories like the case of Devon. The caseworker
told Devon she would never see her children again this was a way that people
with authority abuse their power over someone like Devon a single black woman
(12). They use ways to keep blacks down to make them stay and know where their
place in society is. Devon learned her rights and the agency used that against
her saying that she was too aggressive. Even the welfare rules changed for
black mothers (16). Child protective agencies more likely place black children in
foster care rather than giving an alternative (16). Everything seems unjust and
there is obvious inequality treatment among blacks in our society.
-Ka L.
Blog post reply #10
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog post Ka Lia. Yes, I do agree to what you said regarding potential risk of separating the child from their mother. The way I thought of it was that the foster care system think that what they are doing is the best outcome for the child, but in reality it may not be the best solution. Perhaps, the best solution would be to provide the necessary resources and services to the black families before taking their child away. The stories that were provided were devastating and traumatic. I cannot imagine how hard a parent would have to battle to get their child back and yet still fail at it because of statistics and facts that they think correlate to a person’s ethnicity. I also agree that there is an unequal treatment between black people and the society. But again, maybe the foster care system way of thinking is that if the mother really wanted their child in the first place then why did they act or behave the way they did? I think it all go down to the bottom line of giving someone a second chance and proving that they can do better for their child.
Chia C.