But, yes this is the other foot falling, why do we always see movies about disadvantaged black youth being rescued by white families. Have you noticed? And now with the earthquake in Haiti every time I turn on the news I see these little Haitian children in the arms of white families that have adopted them. It raised for me the question, do black families rescue white children. Do black families rescue our own black youth. Do we adopt children from devastated countries. I found this very interesting blog giving a first hand account of a black family's experience as they went through the process of adopting a little white girl, http://www.thisisnow.org/2008/01/white-kid-black-family-transracial.html. It speaks directly to why you don't see these stories publicized.
Even though there has been a significant increase in "transracial adoption" the statistics clearly reflect a one-sided process. White families adopting non-white children is in the thousands while black families adopting non-black children is virtually non-existent. Maybe part of this is cultural; black folks don't feel the need to exercise their liberalism by adopting non-black children especially when their are so many little black children that need homes. However, make no mistake, a large part of it is racism. White women can have children of any race and it is never questioned; a black woman with a non-black child is automatically assumed to be the child's nanny or care-taker. And, white folks make no bones about their discomfort when they see a little white girl with a black man, ask Mark Riding who along with his wife adopted a little white girl. Mr Riding has been followed out the mall, been questioned directly as to why he is with her (his white daughter) and had the little girl questioned in front of his wife by concerned white folks directly asking "are you okay" (http://www.newsweek.com/id/194886).
"No country in the world has made more progress toward combating overt racism than [the United States]," says David Schneider, a Rice University psychologist and the author of "The Psychology of Stereotyping." "But the most popular stereotype of black people is still that they're violent. And for a lot of people, not even racist people, the sight of a white child with a black parent just sets off alarm signals."
It's not just white folks that have issues with blacks adopting non-black babies. Some of the harshest criticism comes from directly within the black community. When Dallas Cowboys All-Pro linebacker DeMarcus Ware and his wife, Taniqua adopted a non-black baby they were criticized for ignoring the need of children in their own community. Some went so far to tag the couple who had experienced several miscarriages as "self-race-hating" individuals. The Ware's baby is Hispanic. Racism on this issue is not reserved for white folks.
This brings me back to the second question,do black families adopt black children and, if not why not. Adoption is expensive; a public agency adoption will have a minimum of $1,500 in court cost an adopting family/individual should expect to spend no less than $10,000 going through the process. A lot of black folks just can't afford it. And then, reality sets in.
Black families have been rescuing our youth for decades. It takes the form of grandmothers taking in their grandchildren because their children aren't raising them. Aunts and uncles taking in the children of their sisters and brothers and, there are even "play aunts" taking in a friend's child all in an effort to provide a stable home. These assumptions of parental responsibility are not done through the adoption process. Of the 2 million black children in the United States living without a biological parent in the home 80% are in informal arrangements(www.NABSW.org). The black culture has always been to take care of our own and, it has always been for the most part an informal process.
So there are no movies, there are no breaking news stories at 6. This is our culture. It is what we do.
Parting Question: What effort is being made to find out if the children being shipped out of Haiti to adoptive families have families here who are willing to take them in....
