Debunking the Issue: Ending Discrimination and Protecting Our Future

Reader,

The reaches of race-based discrimination in removing children from their homes are far beyond what I first thought they were. In my research I came across this article (view it here), which rounds off my research well. The article is titled, "Black Children Overrepresented in Foster Care," by Robin Pyle.

The first article in this series talks about injustice in the system. The second focuses on the effects on parents. This article focuses on future ramifications from a system which denies parents their fundamental right to raise their children. What will happen?

1. Pyle writes that black children who are removed from their homes are "at a higher risk of leaving the system without being adopted because of skin color," leading to greater "chances of going to jail, becoming homeless, becoming addicted to drugs and not going to college," which he claims "would be much higher than the average population regardless of skin color."

END POINT: Race discrimination which violates parental rights harms our society in the future.

2. Pyle cites Cari DeSantis, executive vice president for public affairs at Casey Family Programs, who notes that "the issue is cause for concern because studies show families of color are no more likely to abuse their children than white families" - which means that the overrepresentation of black children in the system is not due to poverty/abuse/neglect alone. Something is wrong with the system, and the children realize this. For more information, here's a study by the GAO (found here) which further develops this analysis, and the other findings mentioned in this series.

3. For my final point, I want to turn to another article (found here), which documents the story of a young man named Paul Allen who grew up (from age 3 to age 18) in the foster care system. Why does this happen to children like him? In some cases because of abuse, neglect, drugs, bad home environment, etc. - but not in every case.

The beauty of the Parental Rights Amendment is that it would not protect parents who are involved in drugs/illegal substances, or who create a bad home environment for children. The protection afforded to parents would protect good parents - not just any parent. Our society is crying out for change - we need the Parental Rights Amendment.

Stand with me, friends,
Watching the stars,
Centaur

"The time is right." -- Glenstorm