Black/white transracial adoption
CVK
Quite a few people have pointed us to this New York Times article on transracial adoption today. (Thanks daddyinastrangeland, Naro% and Takara!) I haven’t had much time to formulate any intelligent thoughts on this yet, so I’m just going to paste some excerpts here for your review.
I am quite struck by the main photo used to the illustrate the article though. Maybe it’s just the way I’m reading the picture, but to me it looks like an anonymous white man kidnapping a cute black child.
Here are links to some bloggers who have covered it:
Gandalf Mantooth wrote:
My browser struggled with those blogs’ css styles.
A white couple my parents had known when we first moved to the mid-sized southern town when I was a kid had adopted to biracial (b/w) kids. Years later I invited those two to speak to one of my law school classes (I’m fuzzy on what specifically in the law I was addressing that day, so please forgive). The male kid had few regrets about his experience, found he identified socially with white kids, though he was phenotypically “black.” He had attended the same 99% white private school I did (briefly), while his sister (not biological) who appeared . . . oh, whatever . . . mixed identified black. She went to a nearby public school that was about 60/40. (I went to both schools actually). She did express some regrets at being adopted by white parents, though was clear that she felt her parents did their best to equip her socially.
I suppose I’m fine with the piece, especially the sentiment that people are recognizing that there are kids born in the US who need parents.
Posted 17 Aug 2006 at 4:37 pm ¶
Ben wrote:
Transracial adoption is a sure-fire way to dissociate nature from nurture. Since you can “look black” and “act black,” and most people assume that black people always do both and white people always do neither, more transracial adoptees (as well as better representation of non-stereotypical minorities) will bring much-needed nuance to our society’s racial construct.
That’s why I scoff at the concerns of detractors, who worry that white parents “cannot equip black children to navigate the country’s complicated racial landscape.” It will be up to the children to figure it out for themselves. This will not always be comfortable, but there can be no meaningful progress without some measure of discomfort.
Posted 17 Aug 2006 at 5:15 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
You know, the article doesn’t buge me so much as the pictures CHOSEN by the Times.
The AA child is shown looking over the shoulder, the father is looking down and not at her, mother is nowhere to be seen. The child doesn’t look unhappy, but she doesn’t look thrilled either.
Meanwhile, the second picture on the website shows both parents w/ the biological daughter, all smiling.
The hell? Would it KILL them to show white parents showing affection/connectivity to their black daughter?? Or *HORRORS* the whole family together?
Posted 17 Aug 2006 at 10:23 pm ¶
Laura wrote:
We have adopted trans racially- a beautiful black little girl from an agency and a beautiful sibling group through foster care (we met all birth parents involved) . My husband and I are white and we have a n incredibly loving happy family! It can and does work-we all struggle, but love conquers all!
Posted 17 Aug 2006 at 11:02 pm ¶
Leigh wrote:
My father is white and my biological mother is mixed race - i was raised by my biological father and his wife (who is also white)… i had a privileged upbringing, a loving family circle, with lots of brothers and sisters - a total contrast to what my alcoholic mother could have provided. not because she isn’t white, but because of the person she is.
i shudder to think what could have happened if someone had tried to stop my (white) parents from raising their (mixed race) child…
i’m bringing my point accross very inarticulately, but basically what i’m trying to say is, isn’t saying someone can’t be a parent and love a child and care for that child because the parent and the child are of different races a bit racist??
surely the best possible parent for the child should be chosen - and race shouldn’t really have much to do with it?
Posted 18 Aug 2006 at 5:18 am ¶
Gandalf Mantooth wrote:
As I was suggesting with my story abt my two old friends, there’s something to be said for the “as long as they are loved” view, however, what you are calling “a bit racist” is real for a lot of kids out there. Don’t diminish the importance of socialization just because you didn’t have the experience that it is important. Sometimes race can be taken into consideration as to who is the best possible parent (I can’t remember if that has been codified out of the law now or not . . . sounds like it from the article).
It isn’t always a case that the alternative to transracial adoption is some dire straight.
Hmm, transnational adoption and cultural appropriation. . .. .
Posted 18 Aug 2006 at 9:59 am ¶
Ailurophile wrote:
I read in the SF Chronicle about the plight of a girl (African-American) who spent her life in foster care, and now was “aging out” at 18. She desperately wanted to go to college but was facing homelessness.
My point being that kids need families, and that a childhood spent in foster care is nothing like being in a real family (adopted, biological or a combination). If most of the kids available for domestic adoption are African-American, and most of the families who want to adopt are white, then by all means, white families adopting African-American children is a good thing. Much better than a whole childhood in foster care or institutions.
That said, I think it behooves adoptive families to get on board with their kid’s heritage *as a family* meaning the whole family, not just the child, reads books, attends cultural events, socializes with different races, etc. And, white parents of adopted nonwhite kids do need to realize that their child will face racially charged situations that they will not. “Just close your eyes and pretend the kid is white” won’t wash.
But all in all, family is almost always better than institutions or long-term foster care.
Posted 18 Aug 2006 at 11:25 am ¶
Lisa Marie wrote:
I just wanted to point out that one response to the NYT article was written by South End Press, publishers of the forthcoming book, “Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption”. I posted the response on my blog - one place where you can hear what one adult adoptee who is black thinks about her experience as a TRA.
http://birthproject.wordpress.com
Additionally, another shameless plug for me and my TRA activist work - I have an email list on yahoo. “TRA Represent” that provides support and resources for adult adoptees of the african diaspora. Pass it on to your adult adoptee friends!
Posted 21 Aug 2006 at 6:02 pm ¶