Let’s Talk About Race and Human Trafficking
“My dark-skinned friends and I were sold for less. These aren’t just ideas about relative worth in society or perceived racial disparities – these are cold, hard numbers that taught us that white children were literally worth more than children of color. Trafficking exemplifies the continued racism and oppression that exists in modern-day America.” Due to the disproportionate number of children of color who are trafficked each year, human trafficking is a racial justice issue. It is time that we begin to have a comprehensive conversation about this matter in order to identify the root causes and be proactive about dismantling systems that perpetuate this crime.
“I hope he rots in jail … He will never do to other children what he did to us.”
Perpetrators we all read about in the headlines have hurt children now in our care. When I read these headlines, I always ask myself, “Where are the children?” One of those children is Maya, who is quoted above about a man in one of those headlines. When we say “survivor” we mean a lot of things. But one of the things we mean is that some don’t make it out alive. Maya made it out alive.
