interracial adoption
There are many factors to take into consideration when adopting a child, such as income and stability. However, the majority of people will agree that the most important ingredient for embracing an adopted child is unconditional love. Some people believe that the basic element of love is not adequate enough to raise a well-balanced child, especially if a child is of a different race than the adoptive parent. Interracial adoption has become a controversial issue because innocent children are being denied a home due to the emphasis placed on racial matching. According to the National Counsel for Adoption in 1994, "40 percent of adoptable children are black, and statistics show they wait twice as long for parents"(Jones 10). One reason black children wait so long is that only 31% of black people adopt versus 67% of white people. The problem is not only that black families do not adopt as frequently, but that white families willing to adopt minority children are rejected by! social workers who discourage racial mixing. People who disapprove of interracial adoption often pose the question concerning the child's psychological welfare. Do interracial adoptions rob children of their cultural heritage leavin
Brophy, Beth. "The Unhappy Politics of Interracial Adoption." U.S. News & World Report. Contrary to popular belief that interracial adoption leaves children confused about themselves, recent studies have shown that trans-racial adoptions do not produce emotionally crippled, racially confused adults, who fit nowhere. To begin with a 20 year investigation found that "trans-racial adoptees (almost all adopted as infants) were as healthy, well-adjusted and close to their adoptive parents as their white siblings, who were the parents' children by birth"(Jacobs 8). Most minority adopted showed no confusion or discomfort about their racial identity. When most white families adopt a child from a different race, they make it a point to surround the child with books, art, and toys featuring people of color so that he or she can feel proud of their heritage. It is possible to foster a child's racial identity without actually being of that culture. Nevertheless, there has been an ever-increasing reason for racial matching to be disregarded. Out-of-wedlock births and maternal drug abuse are presently driving up the number of kids available for adoption rapidly. These "'boarder babies' are stranded at hospitals because their crack addicted parents can't or won't care for them"(Brophy 72). Most of them become minority orphans. Children are kept too long in limbo while their abusive and neglectful parents get multiple chances to gain custody. Why should children have to perish in the foster care system waiting for irresponsible parents or a race match when nurturing homes are available? Concern for the preservation of cultural identity should be put aside. Interestingly, the maintenance of foreign-born babies from impoverished or war torn countries like India, Colombia, or Bosnia are hardly mentioned. What special cultural needs do African American children have that foreign-born children do not have? Finding a nur! Ultimately, is it the children's best interest that everyone is looking out for? No one knows exactly what the child feels or how it affects them because it varies differently from person to person. The film "Losing Isaiah" is about a transracially adopted black boy whose rehabilitated crack addicted mother returns two years later to win him back from the white parents. In one scene, Isaiah, the adopted boy, places his hand in his white sister's hand. She asks him if he notices the difference and he replies, "my hands are smaller." turing home for them is far more important then letting them sit in the foster care system for a racial match. *http://web7.infotrac.galegroup.com* Mecklenburg County. 23 Aug 1994. P.8. 12 Feb 2000.
Some common words found in the essay are:
African American, Counsel Adoption, University Maryland, A1 Nevertheless, Losing Isaiah, Mecklenburg County, Dan Banister, University Texas, Interracial Adoption, American University, interracial adoption, black children, infotrac public library, charlotte mecklenburg county, charlotte mecklenburg, 12 feb, public library, mecklenburg county, feb 2000, white families, library charlotte mecklenburg, public library charlotte, infotrac public, feb 2000 *http//web7infotracgalegroupcom*, 2000 *http//web7infotracgalegroupcom*,
Approximate Word count = 1967
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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