Word: colorism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...when determining whether families are suitable to raise adopted children - the law was intended to increase adoptions of black children, who are disproportionately represented in the foster care system, by making it easier for whites to take them home. But a new study suggests that approach is short-sighted. "Color-blind" adoption, the report contends, allows some white parents - who may not be mentally ready or have the appropriate social tools to parent black children - to raise youngsters, who may, in turn, experience social and psychological problems later in life...
...white parents minimized the importance of racial identity were reluctant to identify themselves racially." But is it necessarily catastrophic to eschew a strong racial identity? Not everybody thinks so. "All adopted children face challenges with being adopted," says R. Richard Banks, a Stanford Law professor and author of The Color of Desire: Fulfilling Adoptive Parents' Racial Preferences through Discriminatory State Action. "To some people, saying we want children to develop a positive identity means a positive racial identity. But it could be a good thing not to have a strong racial identity. The difference is a reflection of our beliefs...
...finding the best parents for the children who need them regardless of race, but also by supporting adoptive families with consideration for their ethnic make-up. Says Pertman: "Nobody's saying black kids shouldn't have white parents, but does anybody really think we live in a fully color-blind society? It's a nice ideal but it's not reality...
...want the kids raised or adopted in a white home." The Coxes have appealed the removal order--and phoned Hillary Clinton's office seeking support. Two weeks ago, the First Lady ended her new syndicated newspaper column with a plea for fewer restrictions on interracial adoptions, writing that "skin color [should] not outweigh the more important gift of love that adoptive parents want to offer...
This unusual coalition is pressing for new federal guidelines to make the adoption process color-blind. The welfare-reform bill approved by the House includes a financial penalty for states that delay or deny an adoption because of race, but the Senate has yet to debate the issue. Until the two chambers reach a compromise, the operative law is the Multiethnic Placement Act, which allows state agencies to consider race when making placements...