Why Celebrities Saying They Rarely Bath Their Children Are Called “White Privileges”

Do you think dirty kids are cute? It probably depends on your point of view.

Following a few recent stories of white celebrities cheekily sharing that they don’t bathe their children very often, many have taken to Twitter to call out the “privilege” involved in such bragging.

First, spouses Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis sparked controversy by admitting about Dax Shephard Chair expert podcast July 19 that they do not wash their 6 and 4 year old children on a daily basis. “If you can see the dirt on them, clean them up,” Kutcher said. “Otherwise, it’s no use. “

Then in a conversation about View Tuesday between Shephard and his wife Kristen Bell who was prompted by Kutcher’s comment, Bell said she was okay with infrequent bathing with regard to their 2 and 8 year old children, noting: “I am a big fan of waiting for the stink. Once you smell a puff, this is how biology lets you know you need to clean it up. “

But many felt the parental jubilations, as became clear on Thursday.

“White celebrities who brag about not showering have the privilege of not worrying about stereotypes that they are inherently ‘dirty’. Blacks don’t have that luxury. * Most * of us were raised to be obsessively clean because we always have to “present ourselves well” for white people, “writer and podcast host Jemele Hill tweeted, eliciting a response from the host of cable Joy Reid, who reflected, “So when did it happen to get rich kitsch to brag about family filth? “

Many others also spoke, most in response to a Tweet from page 6 from her cover of Bell’s “stinky” commentary. “I don’t think they would share their bad habits if they were to face mandatory intercourse,” one commenter noted. Another added: “Poor blacks and browns [children] who have negligent hygiene problems, the child protection services call on them.

“In summary, throughout the history of this country… there has always been some kind of black family police that does not exist for white parents… and we are so aware of that surveillance – we are so aware of the possibility of a commissioned reporter calling him if our children and our lives are not perfect by white American standards, ”says Shereen White, director of advocacy and policy at Children’s Rights, a national charity organization. non-profit whose mission is to repair child protection systems through advocacy and legal channels.

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According to the nonprofit organization’s May 2021 policy report on early racial disparities in these systems, while black children make up only 14% of the general child population, 22% are in foster care. welcome. This is the result of other systemic inequalities, according to the report: In 2019, 18.2% of withdrawals of black children from their homes were due to allegations of physical or sexual abuse – while 63.1% of withdrawals of black children were due to “neglect”. “In fact, for all children placed in foster care in 2019, the majority were removed for suspected neglect, rather than physical or sexual abuse.

Black families are also more likely to be reported and almost twice as likely to be investigated for child abuse or neglect compared to white families, according to the report, while half of all black children will at some point undergo an investigation by the SPC.

“Black families are more likely to be called out for abuse and neglect than white families, so we think about that in everything we do – it’s always over your heads in a way that isn’t. not for white families and parents, who do not have this threat, to have [kids] deleted because they’re dirty, which is a real reason, ”White told Yahoo Life.

During a recent children’s rights panel discussing the report’s findings, Kathleen Creamer, senior lawyer for the Family Law Unit for Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, noted that the child protection, “in policy and in practice, has created a system of oversight, control and separation for black families. I see this play out in my practice every day. She highlights laws that lead to systemic inequality, including those on mandatory reporting, which require certain numbers – education staff, medical staff and law enforcement, for the most part, although this varies by country. States – to report their suspicions of neglect or abuse to a hotline.

“The standard of suspicion is ‘reasonable’,” says Creamer, adding that it is important that people “think about how the term ‘reasonable suspicion’ invites our bias.” In Pennsylvania, for example, the protection of childhood can intervene “if a parent has not provided the child with ‘appropriate care’,” she adds. “The standard is ‘appropriate care’. I would invite our audience to think about the term “clean”.

Ultimately, White adds, what sets off for black parents when they see moms and dads like Bell and Shepherd being flippant about their family bathing practices is that it’s a reminder of ” live in a country with systems that don’t value black parents or believe black people have what it takes to care for their children. It just comes down to this whole notion of poverty issues and poor people who are not suitable parents and want to “save” them. Everything is so ingrained in the history of this country and in how white supremacy has been revealed in the child welfare system.

And while White and Children’s Rights and many other advocates strive to attack the problem on a multitude of fronts – advocacy, legislation, education – it can often seem like an uphill battle.

“People have been talking about this disproportion for decades, but for some reason the general public can’t seem to catch it,” she says. “And the fact that whites can [share] something like this without realizing their privilege just shows that there is so much to be done educationally about what [the child welfare system] fact, and how it affects black families and native families in ways white people would never have to think about. “