Struggle for Identity: Issues in Transracial Adoption

[summerfae]

I am not a parent, I have the ability to bare my own children when I am ready and I myself am not a racial minority. But I grew up in a liberal upper middle class community that during the 80's it was en vogue to adopt non-white babies. So many of my childhood friends grew up without ways of dealing with their feelings of being different, looking different and not feeling like they belonged. White parents dont understand that they are stripping these children of an identity when they adopt.

[geetarslim306]

Transracial adoption is WHITE people NOT WANTING TO GIVE UP WHITE PRIVILEGE, the truth is they want NO BLACK CULTURES AT ALL. They want many different looking white people. Just like Obama, black skin white brain. How many black people in this country already hate themselves, look at the women and the extremes they go through to not look Black, honestly we need to return to africa and segregate ourselves or die among our captors. THEY WANT THE PRIVILEGE and CONTROL, this is not about love!!

[Cjaz84]

With the way these kids are whining....it is just pissing me off. I am sorry someone adopted you. Go back into foster care. It would have been way better then. These people never had pets in the house. If an animal can love unconditionally and you give that back. Why are we making the race such a big deal? Get over it. I know people of mixed race parents that have gone through the same thing. Take the cards you are dealt and do your best

[LeeMIlby]

"why did you adopt a [race] kid?" the answer is: Because those parents loved the kid for their individuality, not for their race.

[ashken79]

ungrateful pipsqueaks!

[TheRealAshland]

they sound so fucking ungrateful, .. i would have left there asses where i found them. be happy your not in a shelter.

[asian897]

@TheRealAshland I guess to fully understand why they have these frustrations, you have to be adopted. Adoptees, especially transracial adoptees, tend to have a lot of identity issues. Because being someone of a different race from your parents is difficult. It's not like they are completely opposed to being adopted. They are just addressing issues that they have faced being a transracial adoptee.

[phantomsuccour]

who cares!! why are white people adopting these black babies anyway? leave them to be adopted by other blacks. lol You should know that 70% of black women have their children out of wedlock and ofcourse the majority of black men abandon their families, so good luck with that!!! The man was so arrogant and irritating!! How many black families does he think are out there that could have adopted him? lol The typical black family is a single mother and kids from different fathers.

[lmollot]

@phantomsuccour return to the matriarchy grandmothers clans- is the way been shown thousands years is best way to care for children-clan support for life

[SumCommonSense]

I clearly did not say that those adopting a child of a different race do so without thinking about it, as your response implies. My point was that SOME people find it irrelevant what race a child is. You state people "go out of your natural way to seek this child out." Not always true either. Some people are on an adoption list for a child of any race, and the child that becomes available happens to be a different race than they are, and they are just happy to be ADOPTING A CHILD.

[SumCommonSense]

How about an answer he didn't mention in response to the question of: Why did you want to adopt a kid of a different race? Novel thought: Some humans actually don't give a flip about race. Some will adopt a child regardless of race because they don't feel race is relevant. It isn't necessarily that they have something to prove or some unpure motive.

[sushimitten]

@SumCommonSense Sorry I disagree. No one is going to adopt a child of a different race without thinking about it. The key words here are "Different race" suggesting you had to go out of your natural way to seek this child out. And when adopting any child you have to think about how best you can raise this child. Obviously at some point in the child's upbringing race will become relevant. So you have to think about how you're going to handle this. If you don't have the ability then don't do it

[SumCommonSense]

@sushimitten I clearly did not say that those adopting a child of a different race do so without thinking about it, as your response implies. My point was that SOME people find it irrelevant what race a child is. You state people "go out of your natural way to seek this child out." Not always true either. Some people are on an adoption list for a child of any race, and the child that becomes available happens to be a different race than they are, and they are just happy to be ADOPTING A CHILD

[lmollot]

@SumCommonSense money inequalities- why not let all races of mothers get equal mothers pay

[SumCommonSense]

@lmollot Non Sequitur.

[LeeMIlby]

@SumCommonSense

Dunno why your comment was spammed. It makes the most sense.

[SumCommonSense]

@LeeMIlby Seems like there might be some issues here that are unrelated to race.

[LeeMIlby]

@SumCommonSense

Agreed

[SumCommonSense]

How about an answer he didn't mention in response to the question of: Why did you want to adopt a kid of a different race? Novel thought: Some humans actually don't give a flip about race. Some will adopt a child regardless of race because they don't feel race is relevant. It isn't necessarily that they have something to prove or some unpure motive.

[Cyb3rElectr0]

That dude is hot

[globehunter2]

This young man is very intelligent! and aware of the double standard he and

other mixed or pure children of color face daily. Its hard living in a white world

where you can feel left out or just a novelty. Many white adoptive parents try their best to make their multiracial children feel normal in a abnormal setting. But these white parents have no power to change white society, only empower

their adoptive children to deal with it.

[LeeMIlby]

@globehunter2

Having grown up in white suburbia and then moved to the most diverse city in the US, i actually find it harder (more annoying) to be surrounded by people who feel that culture is inherently connected to race. I get people telling me things like "you should go to Vietnam" as if doing that will satisfy some extra requirement for my personal existence. There are people who are genuinely dissapointed in me for not knowing my "true" language. But none of that stuff is important to me.

[benrobinson77]

also, some parents (like mine) were told that they were most financially fit and socially stable to adopt kids of color (or a disabeld kid). they were not forced, but they were strongly encouraged to do so, so they adopted both my brother and I. i think its a beautiful thing that race really was not a "problem" in their mind. yes they had stuff to learn in the race area, but many other parents have other things to learn as well (and they still fail miserably).

[benrobinson77]

I went through my anti-white phase as well and realized that I was being mean to nice people who really cared for me. I recently have felt that for adoptees to question the motives for being adopted is really ungrateful (unless ur adopted parents were horrible). Parenting is difficult and some of us were really lucky to have stable homes, not the luxury of complaining about them and owning a camera and computer to make a video about it. . I have the rest of my life to figure out my identity

[benrobinson77]

well i was transracially adopted and i have mixed emotions about this guy's comments. i completely agree with this guy to a certain extent. if i was not adopted i would most likely have become a suicidal drug addict (like many in my bio families) . my identity has always been a problem i will admit but that is workable, drugs and some other shit are not. so if i was to sit here and act skeptical of my adopted parents like this guy does, it would be completely unappreciative and uncalled for

[jackburton2009]

White couples: Stop adopting non-whites, you're polluting our country with third-worlders and they're ungrateful to boot. If you want a plaything get a pet!

[AdoptionTalk]

One of the major dilemnas in adoption is that adopted parents feel hurt when their children convey feelings of anger or resentment - the parents feel like they've given nothing but unconditional love, so why are they getting this back? What they need to do is understand that their children still love them AND are frustrated about their lives..and then help them make peace with it. If you establish a me versus you position you only fuel resentment. Understanding is your first duty, not loving.

[danikatatkins]

i think most adopted parents have to deal with this. i think their is alway the feeling of rejection when a child trys to learn more about where they come from

[loveallhappiness]

let me tell you why children grow up to be angry or resentful against there adopted parents---

my friend is a black man that was adopted my a white family

and when he was growing up he saw that his white family live in a white neighborhood and he ask them why the want live in the city and they will tell him because it is a bad neighborhood--- when he look at the neighborhood he notice that the bad neighborhood was a black neighborhood

so what his parents are saying that blacks are bad.

[LeeMIlby]

@loveallhappiness

Ugh... no. To someone who can't see past skin color, sure that's what they are saying. But there are many reasons why "bad neighborhoods" have a large minority population, and most of that is caused by poverty, not race.

[LeeMIlby]

@AdoptionTalk

Tons of parents also wrongly attribute typical teenage or childhood rebellion as being associated with being adopted. Puberty is strange and difficult for everybody, not just adopted children. Parents and children have disagreements all the time- it's common to most families, not just adoptive ones. Assuming that all rebellion stems from adoption will alienate the child.

[michla100]

what a prick. this guy is not someone I would want to have as a son. how about thank you for raising me and loving me and giving me the opportunity to turn into the jerk that I am?

ingrate

[me0000ww]

excuse me i dont think you have the right to judge him. After all he was the one that was adopted. And plus transracial adopted kids probably have many insecurities and pressures than other kids. Basically you dont know how it is to be in his shoes so it is not wise to judge him.

[cbrun67176]

get over it!! You think every person of color gives two shits about there culture

[kalona422]

I adopted each one of my babies because I loved them more than life itself. Ones heritage is VERY important and I will never, ever dispute or downplay that. But I think it's more important to be loved and to be raised in a loving home. I feel badly for those who are unhappy that they were raised by someone of a different race other than their own. But I believe that there are more positive experiences than the negative that this film clip presents.

[jackburton2009]

A look at the bizarre psychological consequences of transracial adoption.

As this person shows, there is a lot of anti-white resentment for whites adopting them.

They take them from deadbeat non-white parents, raise them in a loving home, spend tons of money and give them everything, and they still hate you whitey. Wake up and stop worshipping multiracialism, it will be the eventual death of your people and civilization.

[jonah12123]

there are some really interesting and important questions raised here. way to go filmmakers, you guys rock!

[420itsme]

Wow, they really spoke about how I feel.

[cameron6136]

I would answer his question this way.

I adopted you because I wanted to commit to something through love and expect nothing in return. In return I have been given more joy and love back than I ever imagined.

[GDGspire]

Well, it's nice to love someone and be loved. But you did nothing to address anything that was talked about in this clip. Don't you see? No matter how loving the adoptive parents, the child will have issues regarding their ethnicity and culture, feeling torn between that of their birthland and that of their childhood.

[LeeMIlby]

@GDGspire

Or not. The only issues i have are issues with people like you who assume that there is an inherent personal connection between an individual's race and the culture generally associated with that race.

[cameron6136]

He is very well-spoken.

[ginsengrootz]

Thank You SOOOO much! I didnt think that anyone else was out there. Thank you. Please let me know if I can help in some way! I have web skills and more. God bless thank you!

[batmanzena]

from 0:43 to 1:18...WELL SAID. as a transracial adoptee, that person took the words right out of my mouth.

[akanso]

how about: They wanted to adopt a kid, and they didn't think that they should be RACIST. Instead, how about they help out a child that needs a parent, and NOT just leave that child behind because she is a different race? Hmm?

[justmesqui]

huh is this for real ?

[PhotoSynthesisProd]

Yeah, Struggle for Identity is a DVD that is supposed to get you thinking and talking about issues related to transracial adoption. You can buy the DVD at photosynthesisproductions. com / store. cfm