It is expected that African Americans strongly value blood ties. We are a people who were created by the tearing asunder of families beginning on African shores and continuing legally under American skies. It was a common practice for slaveholders in the United States to sell black children away from their mothers and siblings. Black blood ties were of no significance. And because blood ties did not matter to whites, they mattered a great deal to blacks. This started what is known today as "the preservation of the African-American family".

The Black community generally has strong feelings against adoption. There is this belief that our women have no reason to consider adoption. With the strength of family ties within the Black community, adoption is not necessary ("We can take care of our own"). Yet, why do statistics prove

Choosing to entrust a child to another family to raise in adoption is usually an act of great self-sacrifice. It is not a decision anyone makes all at once. Everyday, before and after the birth, parents must ask themselves if they are making the right decision or if their choice is in the best interests of their child. Facing the personal dilemmas of this difficult choice while also having to battle with one's own community and meeting resistance from professionals who may simply say they have no families available to adopt a child of color is strenuous enough.

Office for Civil Rights. (1996). The Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA)- fact sheet. Available Netscape search term: transracial adoption.

Transracial adoption has been debated, with blacks and whites on each side of the fence. However, there is a belief that the importance of finding a loving home for a child should precede consideration of the race of the children and parents involved. Many say transracial adoptions can bridge America's racial divide, yet there are others who believe that "cultural" issues are at stake and that white parents do not possess the "first-hand experience" of being black that is necessary to pass along to black children. As with many racial issues, no end-all solution to the issue is in sight, but to eliminate racial preference, one must examine the law.

Some common words found in the essay are:
African American, African Americans, Supreme Court, Social Workers, Doll Test, Act MEPA, Provision IEP, , Kolodny RL, transracial adoption, Aldridge Eds, black children, racial ethnic, adoptive parents, consideration race, african american, racial identity, blood ties, transracial adoptions, racial ethnic matching, white families, multiethnic placement act,
Approximate Word count = 1739
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)