Walking Talking Contradiction: Transracial Adoption and Identity
Transracial adoption occurs when the child’s race is different from the adoptive parents. This can occur in both domestic and international adoptions. Transracial adoptions arose in the 1950’s with Korean and Native American children (Patton, 2000, p. 46). Later the civil rights movement publicized the number of colored children that was in need of a good home (Patton, 2000, p. 46).The intent of any adoption is to give a child a loving, caring and nurturing home. However, when such profound differences occur between parent and child, the search for identity begins to be questioned.
Transracial Adoption Facts
Statistics show that in 2013 only 22.5 percent of children were adopted
…show more content…
The increase in transracial adoptions comes with the added expense of more individuals finding and having conflict with their identity. One individual stated “…black does not equal brown. Brown is in our eyes; “black” is in our mind (Patton, 2000, p. 60). This individual statement sheds light on how transracially adopted individuals’ may feel in comparison to their race. The emphasis on transracial adoptions and the conflict with identity is important for individuals who decide to adopt transracially. There is no true color blindness when it comes to the social effects of the transracial adopted family (Steinberg). Transracial adoptions have a lot of missing pieces because the adoptive parents are not fully prepared to take on the social challenges of raising a racially different …show more content…
DuBois first spoke about the double conscious theory in reference to the African American struggle with identity. He began looking at what it meant to be an American and to be a Black man in the United States after the war. Even though a black man was considered and American he was still treated differently. The Double Consciousness Theory stems from the concept of the veil (Stephenisky, 2013,p.67)This concept views the barrier between races as a thin porous veil. No matter how clear the veil is to see through, the separation between the races still(Stephenisky, 2013,p.67).The Double Consciousness Theory describes the inter division of the self and the effect it has on social