Why are we excusing Deyjah’s mother and only going after T.I?
In Nylah Burton’s article she discusses all the absurdity of T.I’s behavior toward his daughter’s body, but the one place where I disagree was the dismissal of blame for “our mothers.”
Both parents are responsible when present in the life of a child. and if not present, you’re guilty of neglect.
Ranniqua is in communication with her daughter and was apparently in Season 1 of Tiny and T.I’s reality show.
My questions are:
- Did T.I. check this with her mother?
- Did Deyjah speak to her mother about this?
- Did Deyjah even realize she had a right to express discomfort?
I have an answer to question 1. Her mother knew. T.I was not quiet about this as we can obviously see. He was bold enough to post it on her door right after her 16th birthday party. He was disrespectful enough to discuss all of this to the media.
So Ranniqua very likely knew and did nothing.
So No I will not absolve her of responsibility, the same way I don’t resolve a father if the mother is in the wrong. The same way a grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc is responsible for not taking action when a parent is doing wrong.
Mothers and fathers, we are all responsible for the treatment our children receive from ourselves and their other parent. You have a responsibility to protect them, even if its from yourself.
