Pulse/Impulse

There was an interesting story in Newsweek last week about a black family who adopted a white girl. Newsweek posted the article, I’m sure, because this is an unusual circumstance. Most of us do not know any white children who have been adopted by people of color. I worked in child welfare/adoption field for several years and never even heard of a placement of a white child with anyone other than a white family. Of course, it’s not uncommon for children of color to be placed with white families either through international adoption or foster care.

According to a psychologist quoted in the article, “for a lot of people, not even racist people, the sight of a white child with a black parent just sets off alarm signals.” I’m not certain that I would classify someone with this type of response to the loving family described in the article as “not even racist.” That response is racist, even if it’s common. The article goes on to talk about “centuries of poisonous beliefs” that have led to the attitude that “white stewardship” of people of color is natural, but not the reverse. So, why not acknowledge that these poisonous ideas are racist and talk about them? I feel like the article included that specific quote to let (white) people who are reading, those who may admit to themselves that they would freak out a little bit if they saw a black man on the street with a cute little white girl, off the hook. It kind of says, “keep reading, we are not calling you racist.”

What I found most interesting about the article was the discussion of the practices of adoption agencies with regards to transracial adoption. According to the article:

At present, agencies that receive public funding are forbidden from taking race into account when screening potential parents. They are also banned from asking parents to reflect on their readiness to deal with race-related issues, or from requiring them to undergo sensitivity training. But a well-meaning policy intended to ensure colorblindness appears to be backfiring. According to a study published last year by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, transracial parents are often ill equipped to raise children who are themselves unprepared for the world’s racial realities.

One adoption agency that I was associated with made prospective transracial adoptive parents reflect on race-related issues and made them sit through a “cultural diversity” training. I don’t think it was illegal. I’m not surprised, though, that a study has found white parents unprepared to raise children of other races. I found that many simply did not even know that there was anything to prepare for. A woman who was going to a adopt a girl whose biological parents were Mexican (I had nothing to do with that placement decision) told me that “I know she’s Hispanic but that’s not going to change anything about the way we live.” The family profiled in this article took steps to help their adopted daughter deal with being raised by a family of a different race, like the “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt and making sure she is in a diverse school. But many white parents seemed incapable of any acknowledgment that race was an issue they would ever need to face as parents. We would ask during the process whether parents would be willing to move if their child faced racism or discrimination in their neighborhood. A surprising number said no. I remember one woman responding with “I’ve moved around enough, I’m ready to settle down and start a family.”

So, I guess it’s not such a bad thing if, as the article suggests, Congress will be asked to include race as a consideration in adoption placements. I’m no expert on issues related to transracial parenting (I actually know nothing about any kind of parenting), but if current practices are leading to children of color being adopted by white parents who won’t even acknowledge racism in their neighborhoods or incorporate aspects of their child’s culture into their lives, then something should change.