English 101 - February 22, 2011
The Truth Behind Interracial Adoption
Is a black child losing their identity by being adopted into a Caucasian family?
Oftentimes people believe this to be the case. According to Teresa Moore, who is the author of an article in the Sunday edition newspaper from San Francisco entitled "Family color/Even proponents Concede there are problems with interracial adoptions.
But does the love of Family outweigh the loss of child birth?" it is a case of lost identity. In the article Moore says, "In 1997 The National Black Social Workers Association declared the adoption of black children by white parents as "cultural genocide."" Since then, 43 states including California, have severely limited such adoptions. It is believed that, when Caucasians adopt black children and the children are raised in a predominantly white setting, the children lose not only their birth families but also their birth culture.
Another issue believed to accompany adopting a black child into a white family suggests children will notice the different shades of skin and that will raise questions, including the feeling of not being as much a part of the family.
For example, a fellow student at Olympic college said oftentimes she would compare her dark skin to her mother's lighter shade. As a child she began to ask her mother why she has lighter skin and her mother jokingly answered it's because I eat rice. As a child this prompted the fellow student to experiment with rice in the hopes of looking more like her mother. Unfortunately she realized no kind of food could make you look more like your mother or father. Although this issue does appear over and over, children happen to grow out of it once they reach an age of understanding.
As a black child adopted into a Caucasian family I'm proof that this identity crisis is not always the case.
While some feel the Caucasian family will stifle the black child's native culture, I have experienced the exact opposite. My family accepts my native culture and works it into my adopted culture.
The way my adopted parents contribute is by allowing myself and my siblings who are also adopted from Ethiopia to be connected through activities such as attending dancing classes offered for Ethiopians, visiting Seattle which is filled with Ethiopian people, eating at cultural restaurants, and attending cultural gatherings. Every two years there is an Ethiopian gathering held at Port Angeles. There are many adopted kids like myself who attend. The organizers of the event, have a few activities but primarily allow adopted kids to reconnect to the people we felt a connection toward. The gathering is several days long and is a great time to connect with old friends. By doing this event my siblings and my culture remains strong.
Allowing us to participate in the gathering is just one way my parents help us connect to our native culture. My adopted Dad has gone to Ethiopia on several occasions, each time learning and expanding his knowledge of the culture. While there he pays detailed attention to the music, food and tradition so that those things can be applied toward our adopted family tradition. For example, having traditional Ethiopian clothing is every child's dream and my Dad makes sure to bring us different traditional clothing. That is my Dad's way of being part of our lives. My mother on the other hand, has learned to cook Ethiopian food through outside resources and recipe books bought on the web. At all times my mom encourages us to invite our American friends and include them in the Ethiopian culture. Their understanding and their commitment to be part of who we are is a great testimony that race, ethnicity and culture need to be acknowledged but do not ultimately define a person.
There is an article in the Chicago Tribune called "Adoptees Say Love, Not Race Matters Blacks Raised In White Families Speak Out." The author Judy Peres quotes many adopted children and researchers. Vroegh who is a researcher, has tracked a group of interracial adoptees over a 20-year period, featured in the article by Peres. According to Peres, Vroegh's findings- which are consistent with those of other researchers show that black children adopted by white families have no more difficulties, are not more poorly adjusted and do not have lower self - esteem than black children adopted by black families. According to Peres, Vroegh clearly concludes through research that children, regardless of what family they are in, do not define who they are.
I'm not suggesting there are no issues associated with Caucasian families adopting black children.
But my goal is to emphasize the positive aspect of interracial adoption. This, in my opinion, is not often clearly represented.
As an adopted person, I have a testimony and I want to be able to share my understanding regarding adoption.
The color of a child's adopted family should not define who the child is. The child's identity is found within themselves. I believe people often forget to look beyond the physical appearance, and see the person for who they are, and not for the race or their family.
If there is a black child waiting to be adopted, they should be placed to a family that wants them and will commit to love them, not by matching the color of their skin.
