August 17, 2006

Whatchyou Talkin' About, New York Times?

diffrent_strokes_gangsigns.jpg
Mr. Drummond teaching gang signs to Willis & Arnold

Whaddya know, here we are, 20 years after Diff'rent Strokes, and our culture still has trouble navigating transracial adoption. [Those Drummond kids ended up with pretty long rap sheets, though, so maybe there's reason for concern.]

The NY Times takes a long, Chicago-centered look at "domestic" transracial adoption [a more neutral way of saying "white, straight couples adopting black babies"] but while they hit around it, the article misses what seems to me a key factor for successful multiracial familyraising: being conscious not just of the kids' "original" ethnic culture, but of the family's own, multiracial experience. Which means forming networks and friendships with similar people and families.

It's something that popped out at me from the Newsweek article on kids growing up in gay families, how great it was to meet kids like them at kids-of-gay-parents summer camp. That kind of peer-family support seems fairly important.

Breakin' Through Adoption's Racial Barriers [nyt]
At Home in Two Worlds [newsweek]

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