In October of 1987 an adorable, sandy-haired toddler fell
into a hole in Midland, Texas. She
stayed there for 58 hours, while America held its breath. Baby Jessica was America’s baby; “Everybody’s
Baby” is what the media called her. For
three days, we all watched and prayed and waited, desperately hoping she could
be saved. No one blamed her for messing
around with an old well. No one
questioned if we should help because “where were her parents?” We all just wanted her to be ok. And she was.
Almost thirty years later, we have millions of America’s kids
stuck inside a well, and many of them die in there. Inside this hole, they are judged more
harshly than others. In this well, they
are considered dangerous adults. They
are disciplined more severely than others.
The kids in this well can be denied opportunities. The children stuck in this hole can’t necessarily count
on the same quality of education or medical treatment. They can’t freely walk the streets or safely
play in a park. This well is a very
treacherous place for the children inside because we have deemed them dispensable. We have decided their lives don’t really
matter. We have decided it is OK to deny
them a future. We have decided it’s
better to kill them than to “risk” saving them.
We can live with ourselves for leaving them there because we
blame them for their own situation:
“If they wouldn’t have [fill in the blank] they wouldn’t be in
there in the first place.” “If they
would just stop [fill in the blank]
they would be able to climb out of there.”
“Their parents should have [fill in the blank] or should not have [fill in the blank.] That’s
why they’re in there.”
“It wouldn’t be fair to get them
out of the well; how will they learn to be responsible for their own actions?”
When we blame the children inside the well for being stuck
in a hole, we can conveniently forget how they got there. We can deny the truth that we put them in
that well. Historically, our society
benefited by trapping them in there. Now
that they are in so deep, we are too selfish to admit the truth. We are too lazy to get them out. It’s just too damn easy to pretend the well doesn’t
exist or to convince ourselves that they belong in there.
Do you recognize the hole I’m referring to? If you’re an African American, I bet this
well is all too familiar. I bet you've fought to stay out of there your whole life. If you are
white, you probably have a hard time believing the hole is really even there. You have never seen inside it, in all likelihood. What is the well called? Its name is Systemic Racism. What pushed the children into it? It is called Racial Bias, which is the same
thing that is fighting to keep them there.
Why can’t these
kids be “Everybody’s Kids”? Wouldn’t our
whole nation be stronger if we were all
safe? Wouldn’t we all benefit if every kid had the opportunity to live
up to his or her full potential, if they all survived to do so? It’s time to clear out that well of racism
and seal it up. Enough is enough.
The cap which now seals off Baby Jessica’s well
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