Ethnic Adoption Argument Essay Text

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Audience i am attempting to persuade throughout my argument is to people in the academic community, especially people in the psychology department who would be familiar with the mental affects same sex adoption might evoke. I would also address this argument to people outside of the academic community who. ϻ�adoption is and always has been something that many couples consider in doing throughout their lives.

One couple might consider adopting a child due to being unable to have a child of their own or another in wanting to help a child in need of parents to look over them. One of the main arguments against transracial adoption is that white parents will not be able to give a black child a cultural identity and survival skills in a racially diverse society. Nabsw says that child socialization begins at birth, but the needs of black children differ from those of white children. Black children need to learn coping mechanisms to function in a society where racism is prevalent. Black families are capable of teaching these mechanisms in everyday life without having to seek out special projects or activities.

They live their lives in a white dominated society, and their children learn by daily interactions. Even when white adoptive families actively seek out interactions and activities with black families, they put an emphasis on the differences within their family. Cultural support can be especially difficult to give if there is limited understanding of the cultural differences of family members. White couples are ill equipped in their understanding of african american culture to adequately prepare a child for life in an ethnic group other than that of the adoptive parents. Despite their best intentions, whites cannot fully understand life from a minority perspective, because they only experience it vicariously. Soil mean that parenting strategies and coping mechanisms have been developed to help deflect hostility from the dominant members of society. Over time, there has been a decline in the availability of white children to adopt.

Nabsw feels that white families adopt a black child so they do not have to wait for long periods of time to become parents. Adoption agencies cater to white middle class prospective adoptive parents, and, because white children are not as available, the agencies try to persuade these families to adopt black children. It suggests that agencies should change adoption requirements so that black families wanting to adopt are not quickly eliminated from the process. Nabsw also would like to see adoption agencies work harder to find extended family members who want to adopt and keep the child within the family. Financial help also should be available for these families, so adopted children have the opportunity to grow, develop, and socialize within the black community. In fact, nabsw has argued that the so called genocide that results from the adoption of black children by white families could never promote the interests and well being of black children.

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Merritt, then president of nabsw, stated that black children who are in foster care or are adopted should only be in the home of a black family. His position paper the following year reiterated his perspective, and, as a consequence of the advocacy of nabsw, national adoption guidelines were changed to favor or promote race matching. In 1985, merritt claimed that black children raised in white homes could not learn skills to function as a black person in society. Another past president of nabsw, called transracial adoption the ultimate insult to black heritage. Children who are adopted can sometimes face certain problems regardless of the adoptive parents' ethnicity.

These problems, however, can become more intense when also dealing with racial barriers. Children placed for adoption have usually come from homes where abuse was common. They may be of an age to remember their biological parents and have unresolved conflicts because they were, in their minds, unwanted by their biological families. In addition to adjustment issues, children who are adopted often have mental, physical, or emotional handicaps. Because adoption itself may require the child to make adjustments, the presence of racial identity questions enhances the difficulty of transitions. Adoption comes with a certain stigma, and children who are adopted may face identity issues. Even though they accept their adoptive parents and families and appreciate being a part of the family, adopted children often have an intense desire to know their biological parents.

Research shows that both adoptive parents and adult adoptees experience feelings of being stigmatized by others who question the strength of their ties with their adoptive families. This stigma can be heightened when the adoptee's ethnicity is different from that of the adoptive family. Along with the cultural barriers and stigma of adoption, many opposed to transracial adoption say that there are enough black families interested in adoption to eliminate the placement of black children with white families. The national urban league identified at least 3 million black families in 20 who were interested in adoption.