Current Event SPR2025 Essivi Collins
In this article, there is a discussion about an unnamed woman who sued the Ministry of Justice after being imprisoned in a mother and baby unit called HMP New Hall near Wakefield. This occurred in England, and the woman detailed racist abuse and being targeted as well as her son due to race. The horrific treatment that the woman endured shows how globally black women in the most vulnerable of positions are treated significantly worse than their white counterparts due to race. This is ongoing and can only be confronted through exposure, which the woman did, stating that she was fighting for women such as herself and her son to come. I applaud this woman’s bravery, and she received a “five figure” settlement because of the litigation.
However, through it all, despite evidence and having won the lawsuit, the Ministry of justice still concluded that there was “no evidence that we operated in a systematically racist or discriminatory manner in this case, and we abhor racism in any form” (Guardian, 2025). They only apologized for “racially emotive comments by a former staff member in 2017” (Guardian, 2025). I believe that blatant racism, the separation of a mother from her son, spitting in her drink, etc. warrant a higher degree of response and recognition of the gravity of this issue. This shows how racism still inevitably seeps into institutions systematically and is targeted in an abusive manner towards the most vulnerable black women, demonstrating that misogynoir is apparent in the comments and response of societal institutions (which are circulated and normalized in greater society) where black women’s dignity and rights are still deprived.
