A few years back, a New Jersey family was in the news because a bakery didn't like their kid's name and wouldn't put it on his birthday cake. It sounds outrageous ... until you learn that the little boy's is Adolf Hitler Campbell. Then the store's refusal makes a whole lot of sense, as does a court decision today that denied the boy's parents custody of him and his two siblings -- JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie.
The question is whether Heath and Deborah Campbell have lost custody of their children just because of the names they bestowed upon them or because of something else. The children have been in foster care since the incident, and the courts say there is evidence of abuse or neglect (details can't be released due to a gag order). The Campbells, however, contend it's just because of the names, and that their freedom of expression has been thwarted. Heath told NBC 10:
Actually, the judge and DYFS told us that there was no evidence of abuse and that it was the names. They were taken over the children's names.
Honestly, even if it was just over the names, I'd almost say that's grounds enough for those children to be removed. I'm a passionate proponent of free speech, even when I don't like it, but bestowing a name that evokes such hatred and violence is just cruel and I think perhaps a form of abuse.
Yes, there's a lot of subjectivity when it comes to what is and isn't an acceptable name for a child, but there's really no gray when it comes to Adolf Hitler. Plus, you know that anyone who would name their child something like this is very likely mentally unstable and filled with hate.
Still, taking children away from their parents just for a distasteful name? I'm not sure I could fully support that, but I bet there are few cases in which a parent who chooses to name their child something like that wouldn't have other issues as well. So while it's disturbing to think the children were subjected to treatment worse than their names, at least they have been removed from it for now. And in a way those horrible names saved them, because no one may have been wiser to the abuse if they hadn't had them.
Do you think these parents should lose custody of their children because of their names?
Image via simononly/Flickr
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Comments 182
They should be removed because of those names! I can see hate crimes being slung at them kids now. We had a child down here not to long ago ( in Alabama) who was brutally beaten because his mother named him Hitler! ( Not Adolf, Just hitler) I'm sure if you look it up you can find the story, I've tried but I can't find it. It's sickening. Think of the job oppurtunities, and hate crimes, and just forget how 6th grade history is going to be when all the kids make fun of them. I love free speech as much as the next person, But there should be some sort of a line when it could possible effect someone for the rest of their life! Not to mention I probably expect some type of abuse.
What about parents who read Mein Kampf? Or are active members in hate groups? They get to keep their kids. What about the addicts and domestic abusers who get to keep their kids because the laws "hands are tied"?
I was raised in a house of foster kids and it makes me physically ill to think of all those kids my parents fostered returning to their loser parents even though they were still on a bad road in life, with the state and us knowing nothing good was going to happen to those kids and they would be back in the system in a month.
Yes, it really blows that they have those names but names can be changed. Being ripped away from your albeit dumb parents will stick with you.
If there is no actual proof of abuse, I hate to say it,but
So if there is no proof of abuse or real child endangerment, and they have no previous history of anything like that, then I think that DCFS is infringing on the parents rights.
I would be questioning why they named their son that name. If it's because they agree with Hitler and hope to keep his evil spirit alive or recreate him in any form in their son, then yes they should loose him. No one has any right to create (or try to) another person capable of slaughtering millions of people to create the ultimate race.
I dont agree or side with Hitler or the things he did, but I respect him as a man. He was a brilliant man and a great speaker. If he had used his skills to do more humane things, he would have been a great leader. He WAS a great leader, but very misguided.
I seriously doubt the children were removed because of their names. I don't put much stock in what the father says.
This is absolutely ridiculous! So are they going to remove the children named Adolf and Hitler or the combination of the two from all the other homes around the world?! I think not. To remove a child from their parents home based solely on their name, is pure stupidity and a result only of that being it doesn't follow society's view on what is right.