[Xmca-l] Fwd: URL = Utterly-Remarkable-Letter +

[mike cole]

This forwarded article seems worth our attention.
mike

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Frank Kessel <frankskessel@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 10, 2019 at 4:22 PM
Subject: URL = Utterly-Remarkable-Letter +



Is it ridiculous ‘reaching’ or simply silly to sense some resonances here —
 "In 2019, no longer should weak science, poorly informed crusaders and
racist attitudes continue to shape public policy” —  of the issues/concerns
that have animated our conversations?

————————————————————————————————————————————————
*THE NEW YORK TIMES — Opinion*

LETTER
Demonizing ‘Crack Mothers,’ Victimizing Their Children

A mother who lost custody of her children because of her drug use describes
how “racism and unjust treatment” led to her family’s(sic) being torn apart.
Jan. 5, 2019

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Suzanne Sellers with her son, Lawrence, near her home in Chicago.CreditDamon
Winter/The New York Times
Image
Suzanne Sellers with her son, Lawrence, near her home in Chicago.Credit
CreditDamon Winter/The New York Times

To the Editor:

I am humbly honored to have been featured in “Slandering the Unborn
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/28/opinion/crack-babies-racism.html?module=inline>”
(“A Woman’s Rights” editorial series, nytimes.com, Dec. 28 — ATTACHED
BELOW). As one of the mothers who suffered during the 1990s crack epidemic,
I want to thank The New York Times for its apology for how it demonized
mothers like me and for its brilliant journalism. The apology is welcomed,
and it gives me hope.

I want to apologize as well — to society, the media, my family and my
children. My child welfare case happened because of my drug use, which was
due to untreated trauma in my childhood. Without my using drugs, my son
would not have been born with drugs in his system, and my parental rights
to both my daughter and son would not have been terminated.

The broken entity that is child welfare system and the racism that is so
embedded in this society had prominent roles in how my child welfare case
played out. Nevertheless, the ultimate responsibility of not having raised
my children rests with me.
This country’s war on drugs was intended to be a system of social control.
Yet the war on drugs has instead become a system of social chaos. American
citizens, including drug users, have rights. My rights were violated
numerous times during my child welfare case, and my family was wrongfully
torn apart. When families are wrongfully torn apart, the results are
devastating. When the fundamental relationship of every human being — the
relationship of a child with his or her mother — is severed, the effects
can be irreversible.

I had been sober for over two years at the time I was coerced to sign away
my parental rights, despite numerous accomplishments and evidence of a
rehabilitated life. Being black was used against me. Yet there were other
factors that compounded the racism and unjust treatment, including my being
a woman who was poor, with an unstable living situation, unmarried and, of
course, a drug user.

More important than the demonization of me is the victimization of my son.
My son was taken from me at birth, with the only basis for removal being a
single drug test. A single drug test is not an indicator of the type of
mother a woman will be toward her child.

Authorities made forceful efforts to intrude into the lives of families
during the 1990s “war on drugs.” Unjust laws like the federal Adoption and
Safe Families Act of 1997 were signed. This act needs to be repealed. The
year that it was passed was the year that I entered a 90-day inpatient drug
treatment facility, and I have been sober ever since.

Today, I am a productive member of society. I am a homeowner. I hold five
academic degrees, three of which are master’s degrees. I am the founder and
executive director of a nonprofit organization, Families Organizing for
Child Welfare Justice. I am president and chief executive of S.D. Sellers
Consulting. I have had an 18-year career as a procurement professional. I
speak nationally and sit on committees and work groups for child welfare
and prison reform. I list my accomplishments not to “toot my own horn” but
to show that people can and do recover from drug addiction.
More important, I am a loving mother. Both my daughter and my son sought a
relationship with me when they each turned 18, in 2011 and 2013,
respectively. Although we are reunited, the process of rebuilding the
relationship has been long and sometimes difficult. Yet I am willing to do
whatever it takes to make us a family again.

The termination of parental rights means it is possible that we may never
again be a legal family, yet we will always be a blood family. I have never
and will never give up being their mother. My parental rights were
wrongfully terminated. But they can never terminate the parental love.

In 2019, no longer should weak science, poorly informed crusaders and
racist attitudes continue to shape public policy. Legislative initiatives
with roots in crack hysteria need to be repealed.

Not only does the science around pregnancy need to be approached with
humility and humanity, but all science — and all social norms — need to be
approached with humility and humanity. The underlying racism that fueled
the demonization of black women during the crack epidemic is an ugly
monster that continues to haunt and hurt our society. Enough is enough.
Suzanne Sellers
Chicago
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