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

[JULIE WADDINGTON]

Absolutely agree. Totally worth our attention.
A highlight from the closing paragraph:

"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."

Humility & humanity: sound benchmarks for science & society.

Thank you Suzanne Sellers. Thank you Mike for drawing out attention to this.

Julie


> 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
>
>    -
>    <https://www.facebook.com/dialog/feed?app_id=9869919170&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F01%2F05%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fcrack-mothers-children.html&smid=fb-share&name=Demonizing%20%E2%80%98Crack%20Mothers%2C%E2%80%99%20Victimizing%20Their%20Children&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F>
>    -
>    <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnyti.ms%2F2GUGwf6&text=Demonizing%20%E2%80%98Crack%20Mothers%2C%E2%80%99%20Victimizing%20Their%20Children>
>    -
>    <?subject=NYTimes.com%3A%20Demonizing%20%E2%80%98Crack%20Mothers%2C%E2%80%99%20Victimizing%20Their%20Children&body=From%20The%20New%20York%20Times%3A%0A%0ADemonizing%20%E2%80%98Crack%20Mothers%2C%E2%80%99%20Victimizing%20Their%20Children%0A%0AA%20mother%20who%20lost%20custody%20of%20her%20children%20because%20of%20her%20drug%20use%20describes%20how%20%E2%80%9Cracism%20and%20unjust%20treatment%E2%80%9D%20led%20to%20her%20family%E2%80%99s%20being%20torn%20apart.%20%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F01%2F05%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fcrack-mothers-children.html>
>    -
>    -
>
> 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
>


Dra. Julie Waddington
Departament de Didàctiques Específiques
Facultat d'Educació i Psicologia
Universitat de Girona