I found the topic of
transracial adoption to be quite interesting. Most of the people I know that
are adopted are not the same race as their parents, and I had not known how
controversial a topic transracial adoption is. The readings really surprised me
because they seemed to present transracial adoption as being a detriment to the
adopted child because their parents would never understand what they go
through. Before going through these readings, and taking this class in general,
I had only seen adoption as a positive thing, mostly being mostly pros and very
few cons. The pros I believe for transracial adoption are essentially the same
as the pros for all adoptions. A child who does not currently have a permanent
family gets just that as well as the family receiving a child. I understand
where the opponents of transracial adoption are coming from in explaining that
there are certain cultural aspects that accompany one’s race that a person of a
different race may not understand or be able to teach their child. While I feel
that this is a valid point, I feel that parents of transracial adoptees more
often then not do their best to involve their child’s native culture in their
lives. I feel, however, from what we learned in the UN’s declaration on the
rights of a Child, that everything should be done with the best interest of the
child in mind, which, I think in the majority of cases is what happens. And yes
there are some issues that may come up with race and culture, but I feel like
all the positives cancel out the negatives. It isn’t perfect but then again
what is?
I was surprised by
some of the readings as well. I was taken aback by what some of the adoptees
were saying about being transracially adopted, especially in the article
“Introduction.” The authors call transracial adoption an “isolating experience”
(“Introduction, 1). I, being an outsider with regard to transracial adoption,
can’t help but to wonder if the authors are to some extent being unfair to
other transracial adoptees in saying this. I can’t help but to think to my
friends who are transracial adoptees and wonder if this is something that they
think, but never talk about? Do they feel as though they have been wronged by
being raised by white parents?
--Mary
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! I certainly agree on your point about most of the people we know that are adopted are a different race. One thing that I question is that is this truly the case? I have a feeling that some people that become adopted that are the same race as their parents simply go unnoticed and nobody ever realizes that they are adopted because it's never questioned. For example, if you see a white couple with two African American kids walking around the mall, most people wouldn't even need to question whether they were adopted or not - the skin tone kind of explains itself. In the same way, if you see a white couple with two white children walking around a mall, is anyone even going to take the time to question whether or not they were adopted? It's a difficult question to answer, but I have a feeling that there are more same-race adoptions that occur than we realize. I don't think that there's a way to get around it though.
The other question that I had in reply to your blogpost was about the "isolating experience". I'm not sure if I understood you correctly or not, but I find it hard to believe that being a transracial adoptee would not be an isolating experience. Regardless of what age you are, if you are a transracial adoptee I think that you will automatically be seen as "different" when compared to the family you were raised in.
Great topics to think about! Thanks again!
- Chris N.