I picked up this book at the library in an attempt to begin to understand some of the issues related to race that might present themselves. The authors of a study on white American parents who have adopted African-American children emphasize the importance of teaching what they called TRA's (trans-racial adoptees) a strong black identity, primarily with the goal of the children being well-adjusted racially and knowing how to deal with racism.
The book raised more questions for me than it answered. What is race, and what role should it play in our lives? Ethnic studies courses in college suggested that white people never have to deal with race unless they choose to, since we're the majority. Do I have a white self-identity or a human self-identity? And should my goal for my child be for her to have a strong black self-identity?
jc and I have always enjoyed being part of a multi-cultural world, with some of our closest friends being Cuban and Korean. We intend to expose our child to Ethiopian culture inasmuch as we're able, but now I'm left wondering where race fits in. How important is it to have doll babies with black faces, for instance?
Obviously these are questions that have been answered many different ways and there may well never be any consensus. The only thing I'm sure about after finishing this book is that I better learn to do cornrows so my baby doesn't look silly.
rc
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