Search Results for: blog group apologies and ethnic shame no thanks

Will Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Affect Adopted Children?

School conferences were a revelation to a mother of a middle-school daughter who had been adopted from Guatemala, but even more of a revelation to her teachers. The girl had reported that the teachers never called on her class. The mother sent a note to the homeroom teacher which was never answered. The mother said that the teachers were surprised to have anyone show up at the girl’s scheduled conference time at all—let alone a white professional woman. The teachers had apparently assumed that the girl was an illegal immigrant who didn’t speak English. (For another blog on racism in … Continue reading →

Norris Hall Reopens At Virginia Tech

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As many of you recall, Virginia Tech experienced a great tragedy not too long ago. Seung-Hui Cho took the lives of 32 people and himself. The victims included students and faculty and staff members. The main sight of the devastation was the engineering building known as Norris Hall. Since the horrific occurrences at Virginia Tech, faculty members, students, alumni, and other concerned citizens have called the campus with suggestions on what to do with the building where the killings took place. Suggestions have ranged from tearing down the building to reopening it and using it for classrooms as it was … Continue reading →

Adoption Blog Month in Review, April 2007: Part Two

Please see Part One of this blog for updates on adoption blog writers and highlights from late March and early April. In Feeling Different from Family? I muse on finding the right balance between acknowledging our daughters’ different ethnicity and heritage and overemphasizing them. My daughter puts my fears at least temporarily at rest with this zinger—check it out. In How Do You Introduce Yourself to Your Own Child? -Part One: Prepare Them I talk about things adoptive parents can do, even from a distance, to prepare their child for the transition, such as sending photos, tapes, and even a … Continue reading →

Group Apologies and Ethnic Shame Part Two: Can We Understand Each Other?

Part One of this blog told of the apologies being offered by some Koreans, Korean-Americans, and adoption agency officials in Korea expressing shame that a Korean-American student could massacre students at Virginia Tech. Many of us wonder why someone would feel the need to apologize for or feel shame because of the behavior of someone they don’t know. I believe there is a cultural difference, at least in degree, between “majority” Euro-American culture and some other cultures. America is a society that really values individualism, individual rights, freedom. Other countries have more of a communal outlook, I think. Of course … Continue reading →

Group Apologies and Ethnic Shame?–No Thanks

The director of my daughters’ adoption agency in Seoul has issued an apology on behalf of Koreans for the actions of Seung-Hui Cho, the young man who killed 32 fellow students and faculty at Virginia Tech University last week. (Cho was a South Korean citizen but a legal resident of the US who came here at the age of eight.) The apology was disseminated by an American adoption agency in Virginia which partners with the Korean agency in placing Korean children for adoption in the US. My local newspaper featured a Korean-American state legislator issuing a public apology and a … Continue reading →