Today’s guest post was written by Katie Erickson.
On 2/2/14, the New York Times’ Opinion Pages Room for Debate took on a controversial topic in child welfare. Syracuse law professor and author Kevin Noble Maillard organized the conversation entitled “In Adoption, Does Race Matter?”
Kevin’s piece, Not a Deciding Factor, but Not to Be Ignored, touches on the need for parents to be able to meet and understand the cultural needs of their adopted children, and interracial adoption should not be solely a black and white issue. Kevin believes the cultural needs of children can be met by parents of a different race if they are committed to the best interest of the child.
J. Toni Oliver, founder of Roots adoption agency and vice president of the National Association of Black Social Workers, expresses the stance of the NASWB in her portion of the conversation, Consider Black Children and Black Families, stating the NASWB spoke out for black children being placed with relatives when they are unable to remain with their birth parents and brought attention to the unethical treatment of black children and families. Contrary to popular belief, the NASWB is not against interracial adoption. NASW believes families who are considering transracial adoption should be prepared to understand the impact of race on children’s self-esteem, achievement, and mental health.
In her piece, Take Race Out of the Equation, Elizabeth Bartholet, Harvard law professor and director of the Child Advocacy Program, relays legislation that mandates race not be a factor in adoption and presents there is no evidence that transracial adoption hurts children or communities. Elizabeth’s stance on the issue of racial consideration for adoption is that placement should be made regardless of color, and children should go to the earliest available nurturing permanent home. Elizabeth believes some laws, like ICWA, conflict with this goal stating the principle of ICWA is to treat American Indian children as a resource belonging to Indian tribes.
Russell Moore, an author and president of Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, poses the question in No Time for Identity Politics is it better for children to remain in the bureaucratic limbo of the foster care system than to have loving parents whose skin is a different color? Russell believes parents who adopt transracially learn how to celebrate differences while also celebrating a common belonging in love.
The Racial Biases That Aren’t Examined by Twila L. Perry, Rutgers law professor, poses that race does matter in adoption because race matters in America. Twila believes that saying black children should be placed with black families is controversial but on the flip side most white parents prefer to adopt white children, and that is not deemed controversial.
We as a society are far from reaching a common ground on this debate. This conversation in the New York Times presents a good starting place for discussion but could have been stronger by utilizing professionals in the field of social work to share their perspectives.
Bartholet, E.; Maillard, K.M.; Moore, R.; Oliver, J.T. & Perry, T.L. (2014, February 2). In Adoption, Does Race Matter? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/ 02/02/in-adoption-does-race-matter