This news story about a mother arrested for letting her kid play in a public park while she worked has been making the rounds. It has me so angry that I’ve not blogged on it, for fear I might say the wrong thing. Luckily, Jon Chait did it better than I could anyway. Go read him. Now.
America has decided to punish Harrell if she fails to acquire full-time employment; her employment does not provide her with adequate child care; and the community punishes her for failing to live up to unobtainable middle-class child-care standards. There are many perpetrators in this story. Debra Harrell was not one of them.
We’ve created a society where it’s almost impossible for some people to be parents. It’s pervasive in health care, too. You try being a low-wage earner figuring out how you can get off work to get your kid to the doctor.
