Left of Black S13 · E6 | Abolishing the Child Welfare System with Dorothy E. Roberts

 

When we think of foster care in the U.S., we hope to see it as a system that is in place to protect the safety of at-risk children who are in abusive homes, providing a way out. However, according to  Dr. Dorothy E. Roberts, the George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania,  this is sadly, disturbingly not the case when it comes to Black households. Statistics show that 1 in 10 Black children will be removed from their homes at least once before they reach 18 years of age. Is this the families' fault or is this indicative of a larger imprint of white supremacy inherent in our social services? In this episode of Left of Black with host Mark Anthony Neal, Dr. Roberts discusses her new book, Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World (Basic Books).