Advertisement On Mother's Day, May 12, 1996, on the CBS show 60 Minutes, Leslie Stahl asked Madeleine Albright, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, about the U.S. sanctions on Iraq and how it had killed more than 500,000 children.
Leslie Stahl: 'We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?'
Ambassador Albright replied, 'I think this is a very hard choice, but the price—we think the price is worth it.'
Albright expressed no compassion for the 500,000 mothers (and fathers), who lost their children. Many people throughout the world were shocked (and outraged) by her Mother's Day comment. President Clinton obviously agreed with her. He shortly after promoted her to Secretary of State to represent the American people in implementing foreign policy.
Then in U.S. history countless Indian children (many as young as 5) were forcibly taken from their mothers, families and communities and put into government Indian Boarding Schools for years at a time. They were to be trained as Christians and workers for America's capitalists. They were not allowed to use their native language, engage in Indian ways, or learn anything about their heritage. Many heartbroken Indian children died in these boarding schools. Some died while escaping. Some were physically, emotionally or sexually abused. The grief that Indian mothers (and fathers) felt on the loss of their children must have been horrendous. The Veteran’s Administration hospital in Tomah was once an Indian Boarding School.
Then there was the barbaric, but legal, policy of African-American slave children being taken from their mothers (and fathers) and sold to other slave masters—never to be seen again.
Today, worldwide, countless mothers are not doing so well because of poverty, war, the food crisis and discrimination. According to the United Nations, more than 10 million women and children die every year from causes that are preventable and treatable. Every minute, another woman dies in childbirth. For every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications.
So, this Mother's Day, it would be appropriate to take a moment and remember that many mothers on this planet are not doing so well.
Edward Barlow
Viroqua
The Broadcaster will not post comments about letters to the editor.
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