Mississippi Custody Case
* In response to “Her Dream Becomes a Nightmare,” Sept. 21:
I was very upset and angry after reading your article. Who gives the court system the right to undermine a family and take away a woman’s children because the man she was dating and later married was of a different race? That should have never been an issue. The mother had never been found unfit and it seemed that since the grandparents were upset that she did not accept their “bribe,” she was taken to court.
The U.S. Supreme Court had already set a precedent stating that an interracial relationship could not be used to remove a child from its natural mother. Don’t they read up on these things? What was the judge thinking? It is very hard for me to grasp the findings of the court that an interracial relationship is immoral and would be a form of mental abuse toward the children. I do believe that if they do suffer any abuse, it will stem from the ignorance and racism that they will encounter under the supervision of their grandparents.
I know that some people do not accept interracial relationships. Maybe it is because they do not understand and are just afraid to learn. It is time for the American people to realize that we are all “one nation under God” and that things like this should not happen. Black, white, yellow and brown are colors in the crayon box and should not be used to judge someone.
WENDY STEELE
Burbank
* The recent trend in custody cases is frightening. First, we have the case of Jessica, taken away from her adoptive parents after two years because her birth parents want to play house. Then we have the child who was taken away from his mother because she is a lesbian (no one ever questioned whether or not she was a good parent). Now there’s a woman who lost her children to her in-laws simply because she fell in love with, and later married, a man of another race. What’s next? Going to court because your children have to share a bedroom? Because you’re a vegetarian and someone else thinks your children should eat meat? Is this what’s become of our family court system? With all the talk about family values, it seems the court system is doing all it can to destroy good, solid, happy families.
DENE PRESTON
Los Angeles