Should Race Matter in Adoption: A Synthesis on Race in Adoption
Bandar Alreshidi
Reading/Composition 6
American Language and Cultural program
University of Idaho
Did you know that only 5% of white women adopt children of other races? (Stolley 1993). Interracial adoptions can be a very controversial topic. However, there are different views on this issue. Many people claim that this distinction in race is necessary because the society in which we live is still racist and only parents of the same ethnic group would be able to give enough cultural support to the children. On the other hand this distinction on races can be considered racist for some people and it could contribute to create a racist society. In the section called “Room for Debate” of the New York Times website, we can find a debate showing different arguments about this issue. In the depate there are three participants with very clear and strong positions. One of the participants is Kevin Noble, author of the article “Not a Deciding Factor but not to be ignored”. In addition, Twila Perry participates in the debate with her article: “The Racial Biases that aren’t Examined”. The last participant is Elizabeth Bartholet, author of the article: “Take Race out of the Equation”. All of them try to answer the question of whether race should matter in adoptions or not. While Bartholet and Noble focus on the idea that race shouldn’t be a deciding factor, Twila Perry takes a different position by claiming that it should be one of the main factors in adoption.
In her article “Take race out of the equation” (2014), Elizabeth Bartholet expresses that race should not be a factor to take into account. Bartholet explains that “Racial matching failed to meet the narrow affirmative action exception to that tradition [of not discriminating according to race]: It hurt rather than helped black children, by locking them into foster care and denying them available nurturing homes”....