This is a sad story involving the dysfunction of state authorities where race, rage and possible mental illness intersect.
My purpose in posting this is not to inflame racial animus, but to draw attention to what was apparently insufficient attention paid to the violent impulses of a potential adoptive parent and how much of those violent impulses were rooted in racial grievance. Needy children deserve better than this.
Ariel Robinson was a former teacher in South Carolina. She is a black woman who battled depression and posted some really questionable things regarding race relations on line, but nonetheless was allowed to adopt Tori, a white child. The public portion of the police report regarding the interview with Ariel does not allow us to know much:Quote:
Victoria "Tori" Rose Smith lived a tragically short life. Three years. That's less than 200 weeks on this earth. She was a girly girl who sported oversized bows in her straw-blonde hair and a megawatt smile on her face. A great-aunt described the blue-eyed baby as "bubbly," "sassy" and "full of life" despite bouncing around foster homes for much of her brief existence.
Last week, authorities in South Carolina revealed that Tori had perished as result of multiple blunt-force injuries to her tiny head. She was beaten to death. Her adoptive parents, Ariel and Jerry "Austin" Robinson, are now charged with homicide by child abuse. A six-page police incident report describes how first responders rushed to the Robinsons' home on the afternoon of Jan. 14, 2021, after Mr. Robinson called 911. Little Tori was not breathing. EMTs performed CPR. She was rushed to the hospital, where she died. Investigators immediately suspected child abuse.
https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/opinion/2021/01/27/michelle-malkin-matter-tori-rose-smiths-too-short-life/4276212001/Quote:
The key to Tori's murder lies in 17 redacted lines of the police report from a Simpsonville, South Carolina, police officer documenting his crime-scene interview with Ariel Robinson, who described an unknown incident involving her adopted daughter that had occurred the day before. The entire paragraph is blacked out -- an ominous chunk of hidden information about Tori's last day on the planet.
Thanks to her ubiquitous social media presence, however, we can fill in a lot of blanks about Ariel Robinson. She was a fame-chaser, an aspiring comedian, and a wannabe social media influencer who paraded her entire blended family (two biological sons, plus Tori and her two brothers, whom the Robinsons adopted all together) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for clicks and likes.
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In her past podcasts, Robinson spoke of battling depression and violent thoughts. "I don't feel like I want to hurt others, but some days I do want to hurt others," she rambled. "I don't feel I would...I don't feel homicidal," she told her audience, then seemed only to half-joke: "Everybody want (sic) to hit somebody some days but I don't want to kill nobody." She talked about the temptation to just "snap" and warned openly that "(i)f you get angry today and fly off the handle, punch somebody, kill somebody, assault, murder, you are one bad decision away from ruining the rest of your life."
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I've devoted this column space to beautiful toddler Tori because you probably won't hear anything more about her in the "mainstream" media. That's because this homicide is wrapped up in a package of race and crime taboos you are not supposed to discuss. Robinson is Black. Tori was white. On her social media accounts, Robinson promoted Black superiority, bashed Donald Trump and cops, and griped about institutional racism.
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Did child welfare bureaucrats overlook Robinson's mental health issues because of her race? Were they aware of her resentment of white people before they allowed her to adopt three white children? Did the system lower their standards to appease social justice and affirmative action crusaders? Were signs of abuse ignored out of deference to a rising celebrity whose politically correct status as a BLM-promoting do-gooder shielded her from scrutiny and criticism?
My purpose in posting this is not to inflame racial animus, but to draw attention to what was apparently insufficient attention paid to the violent impulses of a potential adoptive parent and how much of those violent impulses were rooted in racial grievance. Needy children deserve better than this.
“If you’re going to have crime it should at least be organized crime”
-Havelock Vetinari
-Havelock Vetinari