RACIAL RESTRICTIONS SLOW ADOPTIONS OF BLACK CHILDREN

So-called "transracial" adoption has been a hot topic of debate ever since the National Association of Black Social Workers proclaimed that black children raised in white families would be psychologically crippled. The heat under this simmering controversy was turned up briefly by the release of the movie "Losing Isaiah," which described the fictional struggle of two women, one black and one white, over a black child.

I have probably considered this issue more than most, since I was an adopted child, the son of a European mother and an African father. I was not adopted into a white family. The racial sensibilities of the 1950's would have never permitted that. In fact, since I was placed into the custody of a children's home operated by the Catholic church, not only were my adoptive parents to be black (or "colored," which meant having any African ancestry), they also had to be Catholic. Given these restrictions, it is not surprising that it was a couple of years before suitable parents were found. In the 1960's, racial attitudes were liberalized. By now several studies have documented that black children can develop into healthy, normal adults when raised in otherwise white families. Despite any scientific evidence that transracial adoption is any less successful, most states still require agencies to attempt race matching. The effect is that black children, who are 40 percent of those available, wait twice as long to find homes.

Opponents of transracial adoption have suggested that the shortfall in adoption of black children by black families can be addressed by facilitating the adoption process, administratively, legally and financially. In addition, black families should be aggressively recruited. However black people already adopt at several times the rate of whites, so further increases may not be sufficient to meet the needs of black children unless standards are substantially reduced.

The primary argument against transracial adoption posed by the Black Social Workers is that such adoptions inhibit the development of a black identity and the associated coping skills necessary for survival in a hostile, racist society. In the absence of any evidence of such damage in comprehensive studies, opponents have suggested that identity problems will appear after the youngsters have left the support of the family unit. The secondary argument is that transracial adoption constitutes "cultural genocide," depriving the black community of the resource that these children represent. Regardless of the dubious merits of this theory, it is irrelevant since it does not address the needs of the children. This problem is not that complicated.

Ultimately what has to be considered is the welfare and happiness of the children and the families which wish to adopt them. Adoption agencies must put aside unsubstantiated theories about coping skills and nebulous concepts of cultural heritage, and instead look to fulfilling the obvious needs of each individual child. The real choice is between the security of adoption or the uncertainty of foster care. It is time to finally end racial segregation in our adoption policies.