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Barriers to Transracial Adoption

A survey of 405 adult transracial adoptees (conducted by the TransRacial Adoption Group, which is upfront about being “committed to promoting transracial adoptive placements as a viable form of adoption”) found that 97 percent of participants agreed with the statement that white adoptive parents are capable of developing a positive sense of cultural identity in an adopted black child, 86 percent did not believe that preference should always be given to an African-American couple when both a black and a white family were interested in adopting a particular black child, and 93 percent thought it was not necessary for agencies … Continue reading →

Talking About Diversity in School and at Home

I’ve always loved to learn about other cultures. My fondest memory of elementary school is a Mexican posada procession and fiesta. My favorite thing about my children’s preschool was that they celebrated Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Purim and more. As a preschool teacher myself, I was eager to expose my students to other holidays, cultures, etc. I posted pictures of people in different national costumes and different types of homes. Imagine my shock when I went to a to a teachers’ workshop on diversity and the speaker warned us against overemphasizing different and unusual things about countries and told … Continue reading →

Examining My Own Attitudes Toward Race

On Saturday, I wrote about my parents’ attitude toward skin color (loving, but in an “it-doesn’t-matter-so-don’t-talk-about-it” sort of way). Now I have to ask myself, how much of their discomfort talking about race rubbed off on me? I am white, with a white son and two Korean daughters. I guess I’d better get comfortable talking about it quick. I wrote a poem for my first daughter called “My Beautiful Caramel-Colored Daughter”. I absolutely love her smooth, golden-brown skin and sparkling black eyes. I love the way the light rosy blush on my youngest’s cheek looks against her light tan face. … Continue reading →

Extended Family’s Attitudes about Skin Color

I know a couple of adoptive families who were interested in adopting from Korea, but said their extended families wouldn’t fully accept a child of color and that wouldn’t be fair to the child. One friend’s father had been a POW in the Korean War and held negative views ever after. Our own families were very supportive of our adopting from Korea. Nonetheless I’ve observed a couple of instances where they are uncomfortable talking about skin color. In another blog I described how my Korean-born daughter always chose the darker chair for herself and the lighter one for her brother, … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: When You need a Stylist

Previously, In this series of articles on care of African American children in transracial adoptions, I have discussed winter skincare, summer skincare, and basic hair care. I am not discussing advanced hair care problems for African American children. Mixed raced hair care, and care of long hair were discussed in a previous article. While caring for the hair of your African American child can be binding experience, there will be a time when you should call a stylist. Hair Problems: Sometimes in spite of doing everything by the book, your child will still have problems with their hair. These problems … Continue reading →

Choosing Whether and How to Adopt Transracially–Our Decision

Adoption workers usually advise people considering transracial adoption to consider how their families and communities will accept and support a child of a different race, realizing that the child will not be a baby forever–transracial adoption means having a teen-ager and grandchildren of other races. The next question is whether the parents have resources to help the child feel pride in his/her culture, and whether the child will see role models who look like him/herself. We felt that the first issue was not a problem. (In fact my parents had nearly adopted an African-American boy themselves—that adoption never took place … Continue reading →

African American Support of Transracial Adoption

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In 1972, the National Association of Black Social Workers took a very strong stand against transracial adoption. This factor hindered the adoption of African American children by families of other races. This position has moderated over the years due to several factors. The number of black children needing homes has grown significantly. Also, federal legislation like the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 has forced adoption agencies to be open to transracial placements of children. Today, the position of NABSW is that there should always be an attempt to place children in homes that match their ethnicity. My wife and I … Continue reading →

Ethnic Culture Class, Part 1

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All of my five adopted sons were classified as African American by the state when we took them into our home as foster children. One has no black ancestry. The other four do. They are beautiful children. My wife and I are white. The community where we live is predominantly white. The training that the boys receive in regard to their ethnic culture will come from Nancy and me. The children know that they are adopted and realize that our family is biracial. They know that they started out in the “tummy” of a lady that was unable to take … Continue reading →