White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption

by Darron T. Smith, Darron T. Smith, Cardell K. Jacobson

White Parents, Black Children looks at the difficult issue of race in transracial adoptions—particularly the adoption by white parents of children from different racial and ethnic groups. Despite the long history of troubled and fragile race relations in the United States, some people believe the United States may be entering a post-racial state where race no longer matters, citing evidence like the increasing number of transracial adoptions to make this point. However, White Parents, Black Children argues that racism remains a factor for many children of transracial adoptions. Black children raised in white homes are not exempt from racism, and white parents are often naive about the experiences their children encounter. This book aims to bring to light racial issues that are often difficult for families to talk about, focusing on the racial socialization white parents provide for their transracially adopted children about what it means to be black in contemporary American society. Blending the stories of adoptees and their parents with extensive research, the authors discuss trends in transracial adoptions, challenge the concept of 'colorblind' America, and offer suggestions to help adoptees develop a healthy sense of self.

Genres: Adoption, Parenting, Nonfiction

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 15, 2011

Reviews

[Thorn MotherIssues · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book, basic if you know a lot about transracial adoption already, but the information from interviews is very telling. I was excited that there was going to be a chapter from the persoective of a black dad of biracial children with a white mom, but I didn't get much insight from that, just the standard advice I'd have expected. I feel bad putting in all this faint praise because this would be a fantastic book for people new to the idea of transracial parenting or convinced that a color-blind approach can be succssful. For me personally, after already being immersed in this stuff in theory and practice, there was nothing new. It was great to see the authors gently call out the adoptive parents they interviewed for their racist or thoughtless statements and to reframe some of their experiences to foreground a different experience. I'm glad I read this and, as I said, would highly recommend it to anyone considering transracial adoption.

[Jennifer Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had some good points, but if you examine it closely, it's based on the experiences of fewer than 20 families in Utah and some of the adoptions were 40 years ago. I am interested to hear from more recent adoptees in a broader section of the country. Without using other material, it's hard to tell what is specific to the experiences of the participants vs the broad experience of Black children adopted by White parents.

[Mmoreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a grandmother of two African American kids, I was interested in finding out more about how to raise healthy boys. At first, I was a little put off by the focus on white privilege, but after reading the whole book, I think the authors provide the kind of information that those of us who live in a white world need to raise self-confident, African American children with a realistic and healthy view of life.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I kept reading it, thinking to myself "this can't really be like this in 2012 right?!" But apparently it is and we have just been lucky (or blind) so far. It got me thinking about a lot of things and I hope I garnered good information from it and will apply it as my daughter grows.

[Hwydiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vary good book compared to others I've read on this topic. Unbiased. Great statistical facts. This book also has a guide to help if you do adopt transracially.

[Lanae · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’re just starting the adoption process. We’ve not excluded any race, so I really wanted to read up on the issues associated with transracial adoption.

This book just wasn’t for me, even though I do find the topic interesting. I hoped for a bit more real life experiences and got only little hints of that with a whole lot of studies and citations. Studies are important, but having that as the majority of the book made it an incredibly dull read. I had to re-check it out from the library three times and honestly only finished it because I didn’t want to re-check it out and did want to finish it.

If you’re looking for the studies, this book is fine. If you’re looking for real life people sharing their stories, this book isn’t going to be for you.