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The Hart Children: Curse of the Adoptee
Although the inquests are not complete, it seems clear at this point that Jennifer Hart, under the influence of alcohol, drove their GMC Yukon off a cliff in Northern California, killing herself, her wife, and probably all six children they’d adopted. Markis, 19, and Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14, were found nearby. Devonte, 15, Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12 are missing and presumed dead as of this writing. In the aftermath of the tragedy, child welfare files detailing complaints against the Harts for child abuse and neglect have been released.
But in spite of complaints in three different states over nearly ten years, the Harts maintained uninterrupted custody of the children. Why were these complaints not taken seriously?
Dr. Stacey Patton has written an excellent article for Dame magazine that details how institutional racism protected the Harts, who were White, and put their six adopted children, who were Black, at terrible risk. And these six children are not the only Black adoptees murdered by their White adoptive parents. Say their names: Cassandra Killpack,Michael Tinning, Hannah Grace-Rose Williams, Lydia Schatz, Timothy Boss, Hana Williams, Ahmad King.
Racism in the adoption industry is real. And another bias in the Hart case was also at work.
