Rethinking The Color Line, By Jennifer Lee And Frank D. Bean

One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents

In “Races isn’t what defines me: exploring identities choices in transracial, biracial, and monoracial families”, Butler-Sweet, Colleen explains that there has been a controversial issue in the United Sates for more than half a century, among black children raised in white homes. The author’s main claim is that transracial adoption will miscarry a black identity. Comparing experiences among monoracial, biracial, and transracial families on black identity.

The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color Among African Americans is one of the text used. This book was written by Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ronald E. Hall in 1993 to inform readers of the color gap in how lighter skinned people of the black community are treated differently than those of a darker skin tone. It further explains how African Americans have been taught to see themselves based on their skin tone. This book was a valuable resource that it assisted in the understanding of the Black color line; its inception and how it created an environment of self segregation. While this text was helpful, it like many other text had limitations. One limitation was that the text does not present a counter argument to support another point

In this chapter, Mrs. Williams explores society 's failure to deal straightforwardly with the practice of exclusion. This is something that infects everyone, from the very old to the very young, and Mrs. Williams does a great job of pointing these things out. As I proceeded to read this piece, I found myself being able to relate and agree with a lot of the things Mrs. Williams spoke on. The truth of the matter is the fact that society puts emphasis on things that do not really matter and not enough emphasis on things that really matter is a big problem in today 's world. We are currently living in a society that attempts to hide things from our youth as if this is benefiting them. "Protecting our

"Black children belong in black homes even if white families are capable and willing to raise them." How is it that Americans can expect racial development, if people such as the National Association of Black Social Workers, a black advocacy group started to address social issues for blacks, are willing to remark in such a way to the idea of interracial adoption? One can fall into the ideas of the NABSW, but in reality people must realize that interracial adoption is a factor in the growth and progression of not only the United States, but of the entire world, and for that reason interracial adoption should be accepted and encouraged. In a racially mixed family, an interracially adopted child is

Interracial adoption has been a controversial issue for decades now. Segregation plays a big aspect when thinking about how problems with this concept started being portrayed. People believe that when you start to associate different races in a family, the racial identity of the children can start to diminish. However, it is understood that a transracially placed child, and a biracial child in particular, is in the best position to see the commonality between their race and their adoptive race and the barriers to communication, respect, and understanding between the two (Forde-Mazrui). If they are old enough to have been a part of and experienced life in their culture, they will be able to make connections between the two races. On the other hand, this all depends

When a white Minnesotan couple adopted their African-American child in 1948, they opened the door to a social debate that would span decades (Hawkins-Leon 1239). This first act of transracial adoption [TRA] instigated conversation on whether agencies should limit child placement to same-race matches or extend placement to interracial matches. It questioned the appropriateness of crossing racial lines. Today, TRA occurs more often than it did in the 20th century. This frequency calls to attention a need for conclusion of the dispute. While race occupies a defining space of a child’s identity, the need for a family supersedes the need for same-race matching, and calls for the acceptance of TRA.

The study of race and ethnicity searches for equality throughout all racial and ethnic groups though we find that inequality is still a common issue. Racial and ethnic groups are expanding and outnumbering the dominant force, however, minority groups still have no rule against the dominant force. A minority is a subordinate group whose members have remarkably less control or power over the dominant force.(pg.4) Groups are ranked by pinpointing unique features of an individual in order to define them within a specific bracket. For example, a minority or subordinate group has five characteristics: unequal treatment, distinguishing physical or cultural traits, involuntary membership, awareness of subordination, and in-group marriage.(Wagley

The population of the United States of America has been one of mixed race since its very beginning. Boatload upon boatload of enslaved Africans provided a labor force which would fuel the American South’s economy for many years, until national abolition and the subsequent civil rights movement created a primarily biracial population of blacks and whites. The US has come a long way since those days, and today every child

In 1972 the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) passed a resolution, which said, “Black children should be placed only with black families whether in foster care or adoption. Black children belong physically, psychologically and culturally in black families in order that they receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound projection of their future.... Black children in white homes are cut off from the healthy development of themselves as black people.... We have committed ourselves to go back to our communities and work to end this particular form of genocide”(Silverman). Since then, family scientists have conducted extensive research on whether the negative affects of transracial adoption is as detrimental to the development of racial identify in children as the NABSW claims. Ultimately, many have come to the conclusion that it is better for a child to be in a loving family, regardless of race than to be orphaned. In this paper, I will outline arguments both for and against transracial adoption as well as offer suggestions on how parents can foster the development of a racial identity in their adopted child.

“What are you?” is a question that often plagues the attention of many multi-racial individuals. While the US Census began to account for mixed race individuals in 2000, the associated problems of self-identification and public perception have been an ongoing issue for many years (Sanchez and Shih). People of mixed heritage, especially children, often experience alienation from their cultural backgrounds, thus leading to confusion of racial identification and a sense of not belonging. Having experienced these issues personally, I understand the consequences that this marginalization ensues.

The growth in the multiracial population in the United States of America since the 1970’s has greatly increased and is continuing to increase. Although the number of biracial and multiracial Americans is relatively small to the total population at 5 million, the multiracial population is growing at a rate of ten times faster than that of the White population (Stuckey 2008). These facts weren’t officially known until the United States government’s verdict to allow individuals to claim multiple races on the 2000 US census. Along with these aspects, the increased exposure of multiracial public figures and celebrities such as Tiger Woods, Halle Berry, and Barack Obama, has caused the focus of public discussion and scholarly attention on

Parents who classify their children as biracial may involve frequently in ethnic-racial socialization because they are aware

The Multiracial population within America is a rather large and, in terms of psychology, under researched portion of the populace. According to the US census of 2000, which was the first of its kind to allow citizens to select and identify as more than one race, registered over 6.3 million biracial citizens ("MULTIRACIAL PROFILE," n.d.). The rate at which this group expands is forecasted to rapidly increase as time goes on. Chong (2015) and Kuo (2015) state that “the number of multiracial births in the United States has increased by 260% since the 1970s, as compared with 15% for the number of monoracial births.” As the ratio between the monoracial population and the biracial population

In 2015, racial “passing” still goes on in this day and age. Racial “passing” occurred when a person classified as a member of one racial group was also accepted as a member of another racial group (1). Generally, “passing” made a person’s life easier, but the sense of loss may not be understood. A black woman had a nephew who “passed,” and he may not have known it. Of mixed racial ancestry, he was African-American and Caucasian. Born when his teen parents were in high school, the couple wanted to get married. However, her father forbade such an interracial union during the late 1960s. To this day, the adult child has not met his father or the black side of his family. “Passing” may not have been the child’s choice to make if he was not told about his African ancestry. Thus,