The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-10-21
THE FACTS
m OUR NEWS
Bv HORACE A. WHITE

A WOMAN TAKES A BABY
We In Detroit are upset over
the fact that . fine young woman
has taken . baby from his right
full parents. II II natural that we
should be concerned. The fact
that the baby was taken Is seri-
Gus and must be dealt with seri-
ously.
Negroes have had all kinds of
reactions to the fact that . Negro
woman took . white" baby.
Some Negroes see terrible things
happening to our race relation
program in Detroit. Some think
they see In this act, the taking
white" baby by . Negro woman,
great economic disaster. Others
OF US feel deep shame over the
fact that this Negro woman took
q "white" baby. This fear Is un-
founded, but Is representative OF
the anxiety under which Negroes
live every day. -.
The frst thing to keep in mind
Is that the woman who took the
baby Is a mentally sick person.
The next thing to keep in mind
is that most people can and Will
understand. if explained to them.
that the woman who took the
b ably is tally i'll We
have all read the stories in
the papers about the woman who
took the baby. At one time she
talks about the baby being hers:
She does this with sincerity ana
tenderness. One sees real moth
er's love shining through her
tears. The next day the same
woman who took the baby Will
tell the story Of how she carried
the baby away. This she will do
with all candor and understand
inr that she Is capable. Ones
heart and soul 20 out to woman
who longs with everything In her
to have . baby whom she can call
her own. This buttoned-up mother
love and the deep urge to express
this mother love have worked to-
gether TO make . very sick wom-
An. or course, these are not the
only unsolved and undealt with
personal problems this woman
had. The ones we mentioned
acted as the "catch-all" for all the
| others. A cup that runs over
drives all Of US 10 do un-social
things.
This woman Is sick. She cannot
ut this time separate reality from
unreality. Her mind has split In
10 two parts. At one time she Is
dealing with reality and gives the
facts to support this reality. At
another time she Is dealing with
unreality, real for her. however,
and gives the facts in detail to
support her Lnreality. We have
seen IL happen many times In the
experiences Of people we have
known who have been mentally
i'll. This woman would have TAX
en- anybOdy's baby in her state OF
mental illness. II was all accident
al that she took the baby she took.
Her mental illness was driving
her to take a baby 10 salts v her
inner hunger. Her hunger was so
| terrific that il put her in a men,
tai state OF sponsiDility. This
woman had no evil intent what
ever, she was driven by her men,
tai l. S. as no way for
her to escape this thing that was
coming upon he p.ogro lively II
must be understood that men
III /, ) -. this woman started
long before she &C, took the
baby. She had no help Her
rnds e not TO blame for not
recognizing .-er illness at the be-
ginning. Mo us do no. rec
ognize mental Hines until Is
too late.
4. ; woman loved that baby. II
was her baby. Situations and the
supporting facts are real to peo-
pie who because Of their mental
illness ARE I'm al unreal orld. So
cic' will gain nothing II We fail
to treat tbs case realistically. The
l.. .nder which this woman Is
charged was not meant for cases
such rs hers. II Is the opinion Of
your columnist that . group Of
doctors who are well-trained In
mental disease will diagnose this
womsn's case as schizophrenia.
Her mind is split; she csnr"' sep
arate reality from unreality. She
needs treated for what she
Is, . sick woman.
Nosr>es G OF carry any bur.
| cen t-'iuSe OF =, woman's act
Nople un ,.-.-I.d that men,
tal ness r. come 70 any OF us
j.! We keep piling FRI ration upon
frus,r1Ho Negroes do not need
20 ,el ame FOR what a SICK
woman does in the midst OF her
illness.