Interracial Adoption
Adoption is a social phenomenon that spans centuries, cultures, and nations. It is the focal point of many policies, laws, and public attitudes. In the United States, adoption legislation and practices change and reflect society's evolving perspectives. Interracial adoption, once generally accepted and promoted during the Civil Rights Movement, now faces intense debate among social service professionals and greater society. Despite several arguments against interracial adoption, there exist even more compelling reasons for individuals and civilizations to support and encourage this practice. Children without permanent families and homes desperately need and deserve love and stability. It seems reasonable to state that society concurs with this statement. Since the procurement of an affectionate and stable environment for children is the principal objective of adoption, it appears the racial composition of a prospective family is of lesser concern. In other words, the races of adopted children and their respective parents pale significantly in light of a more pressing issue--children's fundamental needs of and rights to love and constancy. A plain and logical observation, this forms the foundation from which proponents
This leads to another reason to endorse interracial adoption, albeit it somewhat removed from the concrete needs of individual children. In the United States, there is much talk about the negative affects of racism. To overcome this debilitating phenomenon, many promote multi-cultural awareness and acceptance. In fact, this is evident in nearly all aspects of society. Educators increasingly teach multicultural curricula. Companies claim to be equal opportunity employers. Non-profit organizations strive to bridge diverse communities and individuals. Such efforts and goals are noble and many times produce the intended effects. If there exists a general and pervasive desire for multicultural harmony, then it logically follows that adoption should reflect these societal principles. This statement means that a sincere movement towards societal racial integration correspondingly signals racially diverse adoptive families. In conclusion, there are numerous reasons to promote cross-racial adoption. The most obvious and important is the urgent needs and human rights of abandoned children. Minority children are at greater risk of remaining in foster care (DellaCava 4) than their white counterparts. In order to eliminate this injustice, social service professionals should promote interracial adoption. The notion that interracial adoption equates to cultural genocide is absurd as it completely ignores children's rights to loving and stable relationships. What's more, through family support and encouragement, minority children may still develop their racial identities. In a more abstract but nonetheless important sense, interracial adoptive families model the purported American ideal of racial harmony; they serve as reference points for others who wish to personify this value. By witnessing functioning interracial i
Some common words found in the essay are:
Rights Movement, American Latino, , interracial adoption, minority children, cultural genocide, adopted children, adoptive families, social service professionals, races adopted children, service professionals, racially similar, majority families, cross-racial adoption, understanding tolerance,
Approximate Word count = 1235
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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