Today’s guest blogger is Christi Anderson.
Recent racial incidents and tensions like Travyon Martin, Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and Eric Garner in New York City, have caused white evangelicals who have adopted transracially to experience these events in a much more personal way than ever before. In an article published in the Washington Post titled ‘How Adoption Has Forced Evangelicals to Grapple with Race Relations’, author Sarah Pulliam Bailey writes that according to a recent Gallup poll, 13% of Americans believe racism is the country’s most important problem, which is the highest percentage since 1992. However, in a book titled ‘Divided by Faith’ the authors write that most white evangelicals see no systematic discrimination against blacks. As more and more transracial adoptions occur in evangelical circles, the reality of race and injustice is becoming harder to ignore.
Bailey’s article, which was published on December 22, 2014, goes on to describe many prominent white evangelical authors, leaders and pastors who have adopted transracially. For most of these individuals, adopting opened their eyes to the reality of racial disparities, discrimination and inequity in today’s society. One evangelical author, Jen Hatmaker, who has an African American son, shared “He didn’t understand he was coming into a culture with a racial bias.” Hatmaker describes her son as being in no man’s land because he is black but has no context, understanding or cultural identity connected to his race. The article goes on to share that due to the prominence of adoption in evangelical circles, leaders and pastors are trying to create more outlets, awareness and conversations around, race, privilege, and racial/social justice.
One of the biggest strengths of this article is the fact that it does share how some white evangelicals are starting to become aware and attuned to the realities of race in America and the realization that love is not enough when adopting a child of another race. A major critique of this article is the lack of detail and next steps that the leaders and pastors who expressed concern are going to take. It is also hard to determine how far reaching this concern really is among the evangelical world. A major voice that was left out of this article was that of transracial adoptees and their experience and expertise on growing up transracially. This is an important voice to highlight as their experience is most telling and helpful to understanding the realities of race in transracial adoption.
One of the biggest myths this article dispels about adoption is the belief that the only thing adopted children need is love. It is obvious that in addition to unconditional love, adoptees truly need parents and environments that will help them develop healthy awareness and identity of who they are and how to handle the realities of the world. Colorblindness is not a good thing and it is imperative that the entire adoptive family views themselves as interracial, not just the adoptee(s). Diversity not only needs to be celebrated but justice needs to be sought after.