Thanks to my friend P.E.W. for calling my attention to an excellent article in today’s Chicago Tribune about a new report from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute that says minority children in foster care are being ill-served by a federal law that plays down race and culture in adoptions.
“The law muzzled any agency that received federal aid from considering race at all—or risk a large fine,” writes the Trib’s Bonnie Miller Rubin. “That meant that organizations could not advertise for African-Americans or ask white parents about the demographics of their communities. They could not offer special training to racially mixed families unless it was offered to all adoptive parents. Social workers have sometimes taken black children to foster homes without mentioning race, only to have the child refused at the door.”
In a more nuts-and-bolts article in The New York Times, Jae Ran Kim, a Minnesota social worker, bemoans the limitations placed upon social service agencies by the “colorblind” adoption laws that are currently on the books. “If you talk to parents about racial and cultural issues they are likely to face,” says Kim, “you risk violating the law, and if you try to recruit families through minority organizations, even that can look like you are using race.”
According to the Trib, the Donaldson study has been endorsed by a wide array of child-welfare groups. It “calls for the ‘colorblind’ legislation to be amended, permitting race to be a factor—though not the sole factor—in matching families and preparing parents.”
“The status quo isn’t working,” said Adam Pertman, executive director of the New York-based non-profit institute. “And if we’re going to be child-centered, we need to recognize reality and not what our ideal may be.”
Adds Jae Ran Kim in The New York Times:
“The law does need to reflect that fact that race is an issue in our society, and prospective white parents need to realize that this goes beyond whether you can love your child or even whether you live in a diverse neighborhood. This is about what is in the best interest of the child, not the parent.”
So much to ponder. What are your thoughts? Should adoption agencies be allowed to bring racial considerations into the adoption process? For many, this might seem like a no-brainer–”Of course they should!” But as the Trib article observes, the laws were originally instituted “to remove barriers and improve the prospects of finding permanent, loving homes for minority children.” As usual, there are no easy answers.
There was a discussion about the report on NPR’s talk of the nation yesterday. Very interesting.
What the “sides” seem to have in common is that they all want to see more adoptions, not less — including trans-racial adoptions.
Anthony Bradley mentions this in his blog and says:
“Every black kid I’ve ever known who was adopted by a white family had a huge identity crisis at some point between the ages of 13 to 25-years-old. Here’s why: race matters A LOT. And black kids raised by whites are usually are NOT prepared for two things: (1) dealing with anxiety of being ignorant of some of the norms of black culture and (2) learning the intricacies of what it means to be black in a white dominated society and how to prepare to be a minority–there are specific things that need to be taught about surviving in a country where you are a part of a sub-dominant minority group that’s usually scorned.”
These 2 points that AB makes seem to me to be both important for the child and virtually impossible for white families to understand without very intentional learning and cross-racial experiences.
It seems to me that the issue is getting away from colorblindness-as-virtue thought process without making color-consideration a litmus test. Very tough from a policy standpoint.
I’ll get this point out of the way: It is ridiculous how the Federal Government takes money from taxpayers, then puts ridiculous restrictions on how that money can be used so we can get a portion of it back…
Anyway, this issue also seems similar to zero tolerance policies that are in place in public schools regarding weapons and drugs. These zero common sense policies make a gun and a picture of a gun equal, and crack equal to Midol. Now mentioning race in trying to be help parents and children or recruiting black parents for adoption or foster parenting is the equivalent of refusing to take in a black child.
I know kids personally that have benefitted from trans racial adoption, and it’s certainly a better option than being in perpetual foster care or institutional care. But there are serious issues that need to be dealt with.
I’m coming to a better understanding of the “colorblindness as virtue” issue, and if it usually means this kind of extreme in refusing to see that race matters at all, then it really is stupid and naive. Perhaps intentionally ignorant as well in some people.
Hopefully this report will carry some weight with it and some common sense policy changes will result.
Powerful excerpt from the Trib article:
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“We finally convinced [the adoption case worker] of our whole-hearted intentions of teaching our [black] children about their culture,” Stone said.
But that was easier said than done, as the new mom discovered when she tried to locate a black male doll for her son’s crib. “I was never so aware of my whiteness,” she said.
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I agree that the altruism of the “white-centric” establishment can tend to merely spin its wheels, in its efforts to be “color-blind”. But, is it a bad thing for a middle class white mother to be made more aware of her “whiteness”? Is it a bad thing for a 13-25-year-old African American to have a more holistic (or at least multi-faceted) approach or foundation to the common race-related “anxiety” and tension we all (or most of us) experience at that age? (I humbly concede that my own journey is a cakewalk compared to that of one of these kids…)
I see interracial relationships (romantic or otherwise), marriages, families (via adoption OR marriage), churches, communities, etc… as being 2 things, from my (albeit white) experience: 1) Extremely difficult, tenuous, emotionally charged, and so-on. and 2) A fast-track to building that proverbial bridge across the racial divide.
The tougher question I’m left pondering is this: Is the “fast-track” the best track?
I’m glad that this discussion about changing federal adoption ‘colorblindness’ regulations is happening. Yes, it’s a minefield and yes, it’ll never be perfect but it is a good thing that it’s going on, nonetheless. Let’s pray for the best outcome for the children.
Some might argue, don’t touch the regs it’ll only open a pandora’s box for every shade or slant … particularly in this day and age of a seeming rise in same-sex unions.
But I agree that the seeking what’s best for the child is the way to go.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a black woman who was waiting to adopt. She said that she would ‘never’ consider adopting biracially because she and her husband were darker skinned. Instantly, my blood pressure started rising. She had been waiting a long time (as had I) and she wanted to be picky. To be sure, her take on being black in America would have been ‘colored’ by her disdain for biracial people. Any children in her home would most likely grow up thinking and acting similarly.
I share that story to make a point. Race doesn’t always make you the best adoptive parent candidate. Would a child have been better served being placed with that woman I met in the store or with a white couple who believed in a color-blind America?
In my opinion, that child would have entered the world at a disadvantage in both regards.
[I'm an adoptive mother. I'm black. So are my three adopted children. During the many years that my husband and I waited for 'that phone call' I prayed for any child of any color or ethnicity. God saw fit to send me three brown-skinned boys.]
Like issues that deal with “race” in this country, this is a multifaceted and mutilayered issue. It goes from the personal and philosophical to the political and institutional.
Part of the problem is that for a number of areas, including adoption, we have guiding philosophical convictions (“colorblindness”) which often works at cross purposes with the goals that are commonly agreed upon. Once upon a time I studied public policy on the undegrad and grad level. We studies it as a process. One of the most importat things one has to do is fully understand the history, cultural dynamics and sociopolitical climate you’re dealing with in order to forestall the unintended consequences which will occur if not done properly. Also, the stage of implementation is key, which is also a main issue here, as I see it.
“Common sense” should be our guide here but that would require policy makers and others to come to terms with things we don’t like to deal with: white supremecist presuppositions which distort concepts like “colorblindness” to disadvantage children of color and potential adptive parents of color. Do I feel transracial adoption is bad or wrong. No; but we have to ensure that the children are in homes where they are nurtured to have healthy self-regard as people of color.
I am currently working at a post-adoption community organization called Hope Meadows and we have several transracially adopted children. This community is somewhat unique compared to the rest of the world because the families and community at large is fairly diverse.
To give a direct answer, I don’t think that the ethnicity of the parents should matter. It is akin to interracial marriage. You don’t have to be the same race to have a good relationship. Successful relationships are ones where each spouse learns to understand the personality and needs of their partner and go from there, which may include issues of race or culture. The desire to work at making it work is what measures success. The situation is really the same for transracially adopted children. Race and culture are not outliers; they are simply integrated with understanding your child.
Most of the time, when people want to adopt they have a qusai-altruistic desire to give a child a home, they aren’t thinking about the baggage this child is brining and how the child will mesh into their family. Considering the individual child, they my have a variety of adjustment, sexual and behavioral issues. Agencies realize this and have to prepare parents to deal with those issues as they arise- many children will have dormant issues until a couple years have gone by. Its the issue of “colorblindness”, which as people have already said, deeply flawed, that somehow disqualifies racial issues from this preparation.
What is tragic is that that many foster and adoption agencies don’t require parents to go through some type of extensive training if they plan to transracially adopt. Love goes a long way, but children pick up cues from everywhere – other friends their own race, media, music etc The racial issue really takes off when puberty sets in before that children aren’t thinking extensively about their I.D.. “Whose child am I? and Am I like my birthparents or my adoptive parents?” are just a couple of questions that adopted kids ask. Think about the complexity of those types of questions when your parents and possibly siblings are a different race/ethnicity.
Where I work there are two transracially adopted males who are constantly in a state of verbal denial of “African-American” culture, but if you observe their actions they will betray their words. This struggle isn’t bad; ultimately it may give them a greater understanding of what is may mean to be Black in America.
But struggles only lead to success if you have someone guiding you. Individually, the mothers of these children do a good job to personally help their child understand their racial I.D., but even so they get help from community members who are black, go to programs about raising black children and African-American contemporary issues/culture, and they have put their children in programs to help them understand the history of African-Americans and how that effects today. They have realized that as White females, they can’t give their child certain elements that they need.
I want to add that this is not ONLY about Black children. I know Asian children that go through a struggle considering that have white parents. One of the aforementioned mothers also has a Chinese-American daughter. She has hooked the daughter up with a Chinese American friend who has been teaching her Mandarin. The mother is also planning for her daughter to travel to China with a friend, so that she may understand her racial/ethnic history.
Again, the crux of the matter is not whether the parents are White, Black, Asian, Hispanic or otherwise, but rather if they are properly prepared with and adequately pursue the best information, resources, and methods to raise their children and deal with their issues – which should include racial I.D. I applaud good intentions, but parents don’t have all the resources they need to raise their children, good intentions are useless.
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A funny and entertaining resource for this is the film Catfish in a Black Bean Sauce, which is the story of how race, gender age, birth parents and a host of other issues all come into play when someone is transracially adopted. It isn’t an award winner, but it is worth a watch.
Thanks for raising this issue Ed. I’m a white parent of AA boys. We went with an adoption agency in Oak Park that catered to only adopting children of color. All white parents had to go through some training (invaluable!).
I would suggest that Anthony Bradley may be attributing the challenge for all AA children trying to figure out how to live in a world where there is less external racism but where the subtle hidden structures of racialization still remain.
I would suggest that the rules be changed to clarify that the race of the parents isn’t the only deciding factor.
I do have to also add that it seemed that unless you are an axe murderer, you probably can adopt a child–even if you shouldn’t. Having been interviewed by 4 different social workers, I can’t say they asked too many difficult questions.
It seems to me that most people who want to talk about how hard it is to grow up in a transracial adoption situation, have never in fact been in that situation. It seems like a lot of Black people want to educate white prospective parents on how hard and different it is to grow up black, but the real issue is that these children do not have parents, and they could not care less about what color mommy or daddy’s skin is. I am a white mother of a black daughter, and my intention is to raise my daughter to understand these issues but not to dwell on them. We are certainly not going to focus on the fact that she is black by going to programs and constantly talking about how hard it is going to be for her. And, no, we’re not ignoring the issue. But I feel raising black children to fear what’s coming is wrong. What if it never comes? The only difference between my child and my neighbors is that her skin is a little darker, hair gets a little dryer if I don’t moisturize. So the little girl next door gets to spend her extra time taking dance and piano, while my child has to sit through seminars listening to people tell her life is going to be real hard because she;s different. Different why? Because we keep saying she is! ANd that goes for Black and White people talking about how “different” it will be. You expect crap to happen to you, it will. Self-fulfilling prophecy. What’s important is that she has a mommy and daddy who love her unconditionally, and who will raise her to TAKE the opportunities that are not offered to her. If she expects herself to be successful in life, she will be, and she won’t let color get in the way. Geez, look at President Obama! Our relationship with her, and her’s with us, is simply proof that none of this color talk matters when it comes to love and family. Maybe she run into bigots, but we sure won’t be raising her to expect it. It is important she finds those things out on her own. Why needlessly scare your children? It’s like beating them up so they can get ready for the playground bully, who they never end up meeting. SO then, the only violence they know is through you. Maybe the only prejudice they will learn about will be through you taking them to these “we’re different classes”. Maybe my daughter will run into awkward situation, but if we give her the security and confidence she needs while growing up, these situations will be, at the most, minor annoyances.