The incredulously short prison sentence for actress Felicity Huffman for her part in an illegal college admissions scandal has reignited a conversation surrounding Black parents who suffer jail time for performing less heinous acts.
As Blavity previously reported, in March, Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman and Full House star Lori Loughlin were among 50 people accused of paying educational institutions hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide preferential treatment to their children. Some of those benefits included early acceptance and positions on athletic teams.
The rhetoric surrounding Huffman's 14-day prison sentence has justly turned into a conversation about white privilege, and some on Twitter were quick to highlight how Black families who seek the same for their children swiftly receive far more aggressive consequences for their actions.
Remember Tanya McDowell?
She got 12 yrs for sending her 6 yr old son to Norwalk CT’s Brookside Elementary School while she ‘lived’ in Bridgeport, even though she was homeless.
She was convicted of 1st-degree larceny for “stealing“ an education.
But, #CollegeCheatingScandal
pic.twitter.com/sDnGLHlxwk— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) March 13, 2019
Tanya McDowell, who was homeless while trying to enroll her kids in school, used a friend's address since she didn't have her own. She was sentenced to five years in prison for larceny as well as two counts of sale of narcotics, reports People.
Remember Kelley Williams-Bolar?
She was was convicted of using the wrong residence to get her daughters into a better school district in Ohio than underperforming Akron.
She was sentenced to 3 years & ordered to pay $30,000 to the school district.
But, #CollegeCheatingScandal
pic.twitter.com/yJ1pj1FWOF— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) March 13, 2019
In 2011, HuffPost covered the story of Kelley Williams-Bolar, the mother Bishop Talbert Swan highlighted in his second tweet.
The Ohio mother served nine days behind bars because she allegedly used her father's address in place of her own on her daughters' residency paperwork to heighten their chances of attending a suburban school with higher performance ratios.
Following her sentence, Williams-Bolar was placed on a two-year probation and forced to participate in 80 hours of community service. To add insult to injury, ABC News also reported that Williams-Bolar was ordered to cough up $30,000 in back tuition.
However, the mother asserts her intentions were good, and she just wanted her children to have access to education not readily available in her current neighborhood.
"When my home got broken into, I felt it was my duty to do something else," Williams-Bolar asserted.
Her children no longer attend the prestigious school in Ohio's Copley-Fairlawn School District.
Upon news of Huffman's sentencing, Williams-Bolar said she can't "judge" the decision.
“Her 14 days being fair … I cannot be the judge of that, and I wouldn’t judge her for that,” the mother told WKYC.
