What do you think of white couples adopting black children?

I'm white, and I think children should stay within their own culture/race/ethnicity whenever possible.

When people say it "doesn't matter," they may think they're being non-racist and enlightened, but what they're doing is ignoring reality and erasing differences. Having adoptive parents who insist you're "no different" than a child born to them is painful enough if you are the same race.

It's all very easy for us (whitefolks) to pretend race doesn't matter. Ours is the race with the most power. We have the luxury of not even thinking of ourselves as having a race. Therefore, it's almost impossible for us to understand what people of color go through, no matter how much we may love them.

"Love is not enough to give a child a sense of belonging, to hold him safe against the experiences of isolation and alienation, of feeling adrift without a sense of anchor in the world. Love is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Children must be equipped, empowered with the arsenal of their cultural traditions and heritage to protect and shield them so that the seeds of love will have a chance to survive and flourish in self-esteem, self-respect, racial identity and self-protection without denial of the gifts of race and color God has so purposefully bestowed upon them."

I think it is good. Staying within cultural/race similarities is preferable, but if a similar match cannot be made, the priority must be the best, permanent, speedy placement of the child, even if culture and/or race are not the same. Also, the education of the parents should be strong. White parents of black children become an interracial, intercultural household, and those who make the most efforts to reflect this in their life will enjoy the most success.

As the white parent of an asian child, adopted at age 9, I think I could have used more education in how to better deal with the inevitable issues. On my own, though, I think I've done pretty well. I moved to a more culturally integrated area, and my household is an Asian American blend. Our family and friends are a blend of cultures and races as well, and I think one big payoff is that my daughter (now 16), comes to me with any issues she feels and we work though them. Do we have to be the same race to work through them?

Well, my oldest son is disabled, and he also has had issues with small minded people in this world. I'm their mom. I feel their pain and I don't need to have the same disabilities or race to work help them with their challenges. I do make sure that my son has the mentoring and friendship of other disabled people so he can benefit from knowing people with the same challenges that he has, but not being disabled myself makes me no less qualified to be his mom. The same applies for my daughter. It is not about being exactly the same, it is about how you face and overcome the challenges in your families lives.

I wanted to adopt even when I was very young. I have a paper written for school when I was in the 3rd grade about "My Adult Life" and I wrote even then about having a child by adoption. I don't think wanting recognition is part of it, at least for me, this has always been a part of my life.

I would be very OK if a black couple adopted a white child, the point is, every child needs a loving home.

There is nothing wrong with a white couple adopting some black children

The thing is if you will love and care for them like they were your own.Besides there been a actress that adopted from across sea and the children were not even the same race. I'm not the same race my adopted parents are they are American I'm Korean

It shouldn't matter what race the baby is. Unfortunately a lot of children that live in Africa are born into bad circumstances or their parents pass away from diseases and they go into foster care. Adoption of any child is the most selfless gift there is out there. I just had my last baby my third and due to complications I can no longer have kids. My husband and I have decided that when we want another child we will adopt and the race of the child has never come across our mind. We just want to bring a child into our home where it can have all the love and support that it deserves. I am white, my husband is white, but I have nieces and nephews that are mixed and I love them all the same.

From foster care, I'm for it if they're a good family and doing it for the right reasons, race regardless. There's not enough people willing to adopt from foster care to begin with. If a loving parent or couple can provide a foster child who truly needs a home a good one, race shouldn't get in their way.

The reasons for wanting to adopt vary from couple to couple as much as the reasons they have for wanting to have biological children. Some have good motivations, some have bad motivations. You can't lump all adoptive parent's into a category any more than you can lump first mothers or adoptees into a single category.

The race thing... It would present some awkward questions, and some people may make inferences about the AP's, yes. Be those positive or negative, I don't know - it'd probably vary. For all other people know, the child could be mixed and one of the parents just a step-parent or something. I do think parents wanting to adopt a child of a different race must make EVERY effort to educate the child in the cultural history of their race, and have the child have positive adult figures in his/her life from their own race. As much as we'd all like to be colorblind, if you try to raise a black child to BE white (or vice versa), you're going to end up with a kid with a lot of identity issues. So ties to the adopted child's origins need to be kept, certainly.

If it's as depraved as just wanting recognition that's motivating someone, I'm sure it has happened (because if it's depraved in any way, you know it's been thought of and implemented at some point in this county), but I very much doubt it's the motivation for a lot of people. Maybe movie stars, but their depravity in all matters is well known, so they don't count.

Maybe I'm naive, thinking that most people aren't that screwed up, but really: there's gotta be an easier way if you just want recognition.

I think there's very few people who would be that sick for attention that they'd adopt a child just to get their fix.

If I were to adopt a baby of a different ethnicity, I would educate them about their culture. Make sure they learn the language, everything as if they grew up with a family of the same culture.

Even if the baby sticks out from the rest of the family, at least it has a home and a family that loves it.

I think it's a nice idea to adopt a child. Whether it is black or white. It doesn't matter as long as think what is the best for your family and the child. If i will adopt a black child, it is ok for me. I will be able to give the child a better life and a better future. Same goes if viceversa. But I am not planning to adopt a child now because i am only seventeen and in college. Maybe im the future i'll consider your idea depending on my situation :) oh by the way, I am a filipino. A proud one :)

I'm asian and I was adopted by an entirely white family. That has had a profound effect on my life, because for the longest time I identified myself as white, rather than Asian because I had never been exposed to the culture enough to claim it as my own. More than likely if I had been exposed to my birth culture, I would have rejected it, because I did not want to be "different" than my adoptive family.

I struggled with race and identity issues, but I wonder how much of that would have been different had I known then what I know now. I also wonder how things would have been different had my parents been better educated to parent a transracial adoptee.

I believe education is the key to being better prepared to adopt a transracial child. I am not completely against it, but I believe that parents should know what they're getting into, know exactly how difficult the racism their child will experience is. One of the reasons it may be difficult for white parents to parent African american children is because more than likely the white parents are less familiar with feeling ostracized because of their race. My mom never really knew how to deal with it when I would tell her people were racist to me, maybe in part because she had never dealt with it herself before.

I am glad that people are willing to adopt babies regardless of race. That makes me think our country may really be progressing past its dark, racist past. I do not think it is okay for people to adopt babies of other races to be part of a "trend". If you are adopting because you think yourself a trendy Angelina or Madonna, please just write a check to a local children's charity because you are not ready to adopt.

I want to see Black children raised by Black Parents.

We as Black People will never truly fit in a society of non-Blacks. It is just the truth. I'm sorry to say it, but we are generally looked down upon all over the world.

It doesn't matter about the race. A family friend adopted a little black boy cute as a button. I love how they raise him, The birth mother never wanted to see him but the natural father did ( he was a married man with children when he got with the birth mother) This wonderful couple takes their son once a month to see his natural father and the natural grandmother this way the child know everything and can relate to them. wonderful adjusted family

It doesn't really matter as long as they teach the child about their culture. It also would be nice to have a friend that is the same race so that the child has someone from their culture to look up to.