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.
