One of my
good friends was adopted as an infant from South Korea and in talking with her,
I have noticed a few very interesting things. First is that she has no interest
in finding out about her biological family. Not that there is anything wrong
with that but with everything we've talked about and read in class, I had kind
of come to the conclusion that everyone is at least a little bit curious at
some point. What I found most interesting was that she doesn't seem to have a
connection to or any interest in her Korean heritage at all. There have been
instances where she has told me that even though she knows she isn't white
there are times she “forgets” and I have been there for a few of those moments.
When I first heard this and saw it firsthand, I laughed a little because I was
unsure of how to react. Her lack of connection with her past is something that
I find to be a little strange because for me, where I come from is a pretty big
part of who I am. I take pride in my family and my heritage and learning about
it is something I find fascinating. I honestly cannot imagine not knowing
anything about my ancestors or where I come from.
I don’t
believe that transracial is a bad thing so long as the adoptive parents put in
time and effort to educate their child(ren) about their heritage and where they
come from. The different encounters I've had with my friend definitely
contributed to my opinion of this as did some of the readings for today. I
agree that it may be difficult for the adoptive parents to adequately educate
their child but I do not think that it is impossible. The lack of change in the
NABSW position on transracial adoption from 1972 and currently somewhat
surprised me but I understand why they want children of African descent to be
raised by parents of African descent. I do believe that parents of a different
ethnicity are capable of being great parents and educating their child, so long
as they have the resources to do so.
I also
found it interesting how developmental issues were discussed in NABSWs view on
limiting transracial adoption, “Additional studies have shown that infancy and
toddler hood are the two stages where removal from the home and community is
most harmful to a child” (NABSW current view). The view that was taken seemed
to be that only children of African descent who were removed from their homes
in these two stages dealt with more issues with attachment and identity. However,
I believe that this would be true for any child no matter what ethnicity. Identity
is usually an issue for any child/person no matter what at some point in
his/her life. What is being said is in no way false but it is not exclusive to
children of African descent, Caucasian children removed from their family at an
early age deal with the same issues as well.
-- Lindsey E. --
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteHearing the story about your friend shocks me. It seems hard for me to ‘forget’ my ethnicity. Even as a white individual and in the majority, I still feel the need to keep my ethnicity in check and recognize my differences when I am faced with various situations. Unfortunately, the ethnicity we are raced plays a large role in the way we behave and ways we are expected to behave. For example, the N-word has long been associated negatively toward African Americans. If, as a white individual, I ever said the word I would be considered extremely racist and disrespectful. However, if I said it, as an African American, I may be praised and no one may think anything of it. This difference frustrates me because some words are ‘okay’ to be used in certain ethnicities but is considered racist in other ethnicities.
In regards to adoption, I believe transracial adoption can be a great thing however the adoptive parents need to be prepared to do some extra homework and parenting with the child(ren). Like we said in class, isn’t it better to have a child in a transracial home than grow up in countless foster homes? Personally, I’d rather be raised in one home than many without an identity or belonging to any family. I believe if an adoptive family is going to adopt transracially, extra classes and education need to take place. I believe it is important for individuals to be raised knowing their culture and help them identify with their culture. Even if the culture is not widely expressed and practiced in the community, I believe a person needs to know who they are through their race and ethnicity as well as many other factors.
-Brenna M.
Graded Reply 6
DeleteGraded Blog Post Reply 6:
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsey,
I really enjoyed hearing the story about your friend’s personal experience with transracial adoption. Since in class we have been reading a lot about the stories of Korean and other transracial adoptees and how their experiences seemed to be more negative, it was refreshing to hear another perspective. The readings from class have talked about how transracial adoptees have had difficulties understanding and learning about their racial identity and feel like they are “missing” a part of themselves. Even though your friend hasn’t wondered about her Korean culture at this point in her life, I wonder as she starts a family of her own, gets married, or just grows older if she will then question her culture/race. It seems to be that one’s racial/ethnic identity is important to understand in order to understand yourself.
Since two of my cousins (who are 7 & 5 years old) are adopted from China from my white aunt and uncle, I wonder how they are going about educating them about their ethnic identity. I also agree that it is very important for parents to sit down with their children and talk about race, identity, racism, white privilege no matter if they are adopted or not.
It was a pleasure reading your blog post and hearing a story of transracial adoption from your friend’s point of view! Thanks for a new perspective.
Samantha J.
Lindsey, thank you for your post. I, like you, find my identity to be a huge part of who I am. I enjoy learning about and understanding where I come from and who my ancestors are, and I cannot imagine not knowing these things. I agree with you that it is important for adoptive parents to educate their children about their heritage and cultural background, especially when they adopt transracially.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that parents who adopt transracially are capable of educating their children about their cultural background, especially if they have necessary resources to do so. Like you, I think that many children, especially adopted children, are very likely to go through identity crises’. However, I do see how these identity struggles could become more confusing for children who are transracially adopted. Not only are you trying to find your identity as an adopted child, but as an adopted child who does not look like their family and may have to deal with issues of racism. Do you see this at all? Or had your friend experienced anything like this?
One other thing that I noticed about your blog post was that you addressed NABSW’s concerns about African American children being raised by white people. I, personally, do not see a problem with this whatsoever. However, I completely understand where the NABSW is coming from. I think it is very easy, being from the dominant (white) culture to assume that we can do a good job of raising children from a minority culture. I can see how people from the minority cultures are concerned, because they already feel as though their culture gets lost in our society. For them, having the dominant culture raise children from the minority culture could be extremely scary and threatening.
Like I said, I am all for transracial adoption as long as the adoptive parents take the necessary steps to educate their children about their cultural background. Thank you, again, for your blog post. I thought you raised some very important things to discuss and talk about.
-Meggan S.: Blog Post Reply Number 6