Monday, June 15, 2020

NCCPR in the New York Daily News: Dismantle the racist child welfare system, too


As communities of color rise up against police brutality and the other day-to-day brutalities they face, we are reminded again about the dangers of walking while black, driving while black, birdwatching while black and doing almost every other daily activity-while-black. But there’s one area of profound bias against people of color that keeps getting left out: parenting while black.

For families of color, agencies like New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services can be every bit as oppressive as the police, and even more powerful. Police can stop a black teenager on the street, throw him against a wall and frisk him. ACS can march right into the home, strip-search a black child and walk out with him, consigning the child to the chaos of foster care.

As with so much else in American life, COVID-19 has highlighted the problem — and worsened it.