One must consider first that Tennessee, like most of the Deep South, had never fully recovered from the reconstruction era that followed the civil war. The poverty of a defeated people not only lasted for generations, but encompassed beyond the material poverty and into the realms of spirit and pride. A resignation of powerlessness allows corrupt political bosses to fill the void. Good people everywhere understood that things were as they were and they had no choice but to accept the system. A conquered people accept that, indeed, might makes right.
It was this terrible mixture of generational poverty and emerging optimism that played into a social acceptance of dislocating children, even by cruel and illegal devices. For the promise and the hope of providing the children with a better life - more security, a better standard of living, healthcare, education - the things each of us would want for our babies, society gave its seal of approval.
