In order to support her claims Roberts uses a number of
statistics that point to the extreme disproportion of African Americans in
foster care versus white children. It is the statistics that I find to be her
most convincing evidence. While I find
the anecdotal evidence that she supplies very moving, what it comes down to
sometimes is the fact that while moving they are singular examples. The
statistics provide concrete facts and evidence to back up the discrimination
shown through the personal stories. Statistics like “56% of black children have
been placed in the child welfare system have been placed in foster care – twice
the percentage for white children” (17).
The evidence that I question somewhat actually comes from
the anecdotal evidence. The way that the author presents these stories makes me
feel as though she is in a sense saying that in these situations where African
American children are taken from their parents, while their parents are in fact
fit parents, is the norm for foster care. It makes her arguments very
persuasive. However, I think that if statistics were provided explaining how
often situations, like those she supplied, would be helpful in understanding
the situation. They could potentially enhance the point the stories make. This
to me would also show that the social workers are violating the rights of the
child to be raised how they would prefer, with their family I would assume, and
the social workers are then violating the autonomy of the children taken from
their homes. One could also argue that being taken from ones parents and not
returned is definitely against the best interest of the child. However, if the
statistics were to show that the occurrence of these situations is low, the
anecdotal evidence becomes less persuasive. If this were the case I would
question the evidence.
--Mary S.
Blog Post Reply #10:
ReplyDeleteMary you brought up really important points and information about Roberts' book. So far, she dives her readers into informational facts and then leads the readers into deeper examples as well as understanding of everything ties together (welfare system, African American families, poverty, nourishment, etc.).
One thing I wanted to bring up in class was our "Morals Principles and Rights" that we have learned earlier this semester. You touched based about how the social workers violated the rights of the child, but I think overall, the social workers violated the rights of many African American families. In addition, if we were to ask a social worker, who took a child away from their family due to situations similar as Roberts' examples, to fill check next to which word s/he believed they violated and compare this to the parents of these African American children I think we would find very different responses.
Although Roberts' had some point of views from judges and higher officials (therapists, doctors, etc.), I still think that some judge, social worker's boss, social workers, and anyone else who was involved in incorrectly removing these children should have consequences to this. This could include suspension with a number of hours of taking a multicultural course, removal of license, etc.
-Brenda X
Graded blog reply for blog post #10:
ReplyDeleteMary – I agree that the statistics Roberts uses are her most convincing form of support for her argument. One statistic that was especially informative for me was: “A national study of child protective services by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that ‘minority children, and in particular African American children, are more likely to be in foster care placement than receive in-home services, even when they have the same problems and characteristics as white children.’ White children who are abused or neglected are twice as likely as Black children to receive services in their own homes, avoiding the emotional damage and physical risks of foster care placement” (p. 17).
I share some of the same concerns about the anecdotal evidence she uses, especially since the frequency of these types of situations isn’t explicitly mentioned. She definitely wants readers to believe that stories like the ones she shares are the norm, but at this point we do not know if that is completely true since most of the statistics she shares focus on the amount of Black children in the foster care system, not the circumstances surrounding why they were placed there. Hopefully as we read further in the book these questions become clarified for us.
-Meghan S.