The focus of Sunday's post was that the National Association of Black Social Workers believes that black children CANNOT be properly raised in a non-black home, period.
First, let me address the fact that the quotes I included in the previous post were from many years ago...surely things/ideas have changed in that period of time. No, they have not. If you go to the NABSW website you will find that the emphasis made in the 1972 statement has NOT changed.
A lot has happened in the past forty years, despite the NABSW maintaining their position. Adoption has been studied, adoptees have been studies, adoptive families have been studied, ad nauseum. The welfare of children in non-biological families has been studied. The book I mentioned (that I was quoting), In Their Own Voices, Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories, cites many studies on the long-term effects on people who were placed in a family of a different race than their own (they are all footnoted in the book, so I am not going to do that here). The studies were regarding psychological health, self-esteem, family integration, etc. of the children. In EVERY study, the children who were transracial adopted did as well or BETTER than those that were adopted into a family of their own race.
Here is a sample of what was found...and this is truly significant, imo!
During the first encounter with the children in 1972 (adopted and birth) they were given a series of projective tests including the Kenneth Clark doll tests, puzzles, pictures, and so on, that sought to assess racial awareness, attitudes and identity. Unlike all other previous doll studies, our respondents did not favor the white doll. It was not considered smarter, prettier, nicer, and so forth, than the black doll, either by white or black children. Nor did any of the other tests reveal preferences for white or negative reactions to black. Yet the black and white children in our study accurately identified themselves as white or black on those same tests. Indeed, the most important finding that emerged from our first encounter with the families in 1971-72 was the absence of a white racial preference or bias on the part of white birth children and the nonwhite adopted children.
This is amazing! Encouraging! If you are not familiar with the doll tests you can view them on YouTube. They are heartbreaking! But the study of children placed in transracial adoptions and their white siblings did NOT react the same way as other children, presumably raised in their biological homes. I cannot even express how happy this makes me!
I could go on and on, but I won't!
Some of you are thinking, yeah, so what's the big deal? Why is Barb going on and on about this? Well, the reason why is that there are people who believe those things I quoted in the first post. They believe that there is NO WAY I should be parenting the children God has given me. That there is NO WAY that my multi-racial and black children will thrive in our home. I have a problem with that!
Personally, I believe a little education can go a long way, so this post is my effort to educate :-)
Carry on!
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