RACISM
How One Case of Abuse Has Us Questioning the Safety of Black Foster Children
White couple accused of treating Black foster children like slaves
When Black foster children are matched with adoptive parents, they face an additional risk that those who adopt them harbor racist attitudes and beliefs that put them in danger. One case of abuse highlights the risks. For instance, prosecutors recently accused Donald Ray Lantz, a 63-year-old White man, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, a 62-year-old woman, of child neglect, human trafficking of a minor child, and use of a minor child in forced labor after discovering the West Virginia couple kept five adopted Black children "locked in a barn and used as slaves." They pled "not guilty," and the judge released them on bond. This is the type of story that causes many in the black community to maintain a level of skepticism toward White people who intentionally seek out and adopt Black children.
Despite the wealthy couple having a large home, they forced their Black adopted children to live in a barn without access to a toilet or running water and made them work on their property. The 14-year-old boy had "open sores on his bare feet," a clear sign of the long-term abuse he endured. They slept on a cold, concrete floor in a barn without any mattresses…
