It looks like Alan Dettlaff has talked himself out of a job. The dean of social work at the University of Houston since 2015, Dettlaff has used his post to advocate the “abolition” of the child welfare system. In December, he was removed from his administrative role. A university spokesman told the Chronicle of Higher Education that the move was made “to better align the college with the university’s academic priorities, which include growing research expenditures and elevating the learning experience for all students.” But Dettlaff, who will get to keep his perch on the faculty, said the “resistance” to his message on racial justice “was too great.”

Dettlaff, one of the founders of the upEND Movement, argued that because black and brown families are disproportionately investigated for abuse and neglect, because their cases are substantiated at a higher rate, and because the children in these homes are more likely to be placed in foster care, the child welfare system is itself racist and should be eliminated. If anything, it should be replaced by a bureaucracy that gives poor people more money.