Do whites need training before parenting black children?

Question

This is an interesting editorial on cnn.com. Just curious what others thought of this.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/27/tranracial.adoption.ap/index.html

Answer 1

No I don't think whites need training before parenting black children. I believe being a parent comes natural and it's not a color thing, it's a love,caring,compassion,commitment thing. The child needs love not a parent in training.

Answer 2

Do you think it should include parents who create a mixed race child? I Think that even when people ARE blood related, they can still be insensitive to race related issues their bi-racial child may have.

I'm all for addition training. The more info, the better.

Answer 3

Nah,They would like probbly to be treated normally

Answer 4

Absolutely!  I posted a question on this earlier.  I had no idea that with all of the training that foster parents receive, that racial/cultural training was excluded to the point of not even being mentioned.

We adopted transracially via international adoption and almost all of our pre-adoption classes involved race and culture.  

The fact is that we don't live in a colorblind society.  Race is an intregal part of my children's identity and therefore, it is very important to me that they have a postive sense of racial and ethnic pride.  Being Caucasian, I fully admit that adoptive parents of a diffferent race than their children need training in order to assist their children to develop this positive cultural identity.

Let alone, the need for education on caring for ethnic skin and hair, which is VERY different than caring for Caucasian skin and hair!  This is a very important part of self esteem that is often overlooked.

So yes, the article doesn't say that people shouldn't adopt transracially, just that there should be education given on the unique challenges associated with it.  And I agree.

Answer 5

I think a person needs to adopt a child out of love!  yes maybe a white couple needs to go to classes to learn about hair and skin care for a black child, but that is all!  A friend and I where just having this same conversation, and she is black, while I am white! Her statement to me was shocking, that if I where to adopt a black child, who would teach it to be black! How disgusting!  Why do we need to teach our children to BE BLACK or BE WHITE! Why can't we just teach them how to be good prosperous people! Sure teach them about the heritage, but I think that the school  system teaches alot of what needs to be known! And of course if the child asks a question then the parents should be willing to tell the child!  This is what is wrong with the world today!  We keep trying to say that we want to be a color blind people and nation, but we keep asking this question, over and over again.  Children are going to be mean and hurtful!  That's life!  My friend whom I mentioned earlier, has a black mother and father, but because she came out light skinned, she still got persecuted, by her black peers, just because she wasn't black enough, literally!  So all this c**p about the kid getting picked on about who they're parents are is bull! They're gonna get picked about something! Kids are cruel, and will always be cruel!

Answer 6

A study released just today claims that black children adopted by same race parents do not tend to experience race-related self-esteem issues as sharply as black children adopted by whites.  

Susan Livingston Smith, who wrote the study (and supports interracial adoption) concludes that interracial adoption "itself does not produce psychological problems in children."  But continues by saying, "transracially adopted children and their families face a range of challenges, and the manner in which parents handle them facilitates or hinders children's development."

I tend to agree.

Answer 7

No what the heck !!!! Kids should be taught about their culture and where they come from but be trained because they have a child of a different race, Every child is different no matter what color they are and only the parents know how to raise their child properly with kindness, love and affection etc... and no training can teach you that. And what the heck do you think black people need to be trained to parent white children. I'm sorry but this is a bunch of baloney. Thank for asking the question though

Answer 8

Yes! We're adopting form Ethiopia and there's absolutely differences. My sister's half black, we look identical except she's dark and I'm white. Pretending there isn't a difference between us and our needs is silly. We live in a racist world. We need to understand this and prepare our children to live in it. Not to mention the practical things such as hair and skin care.

Answer 9

my stepmom has "black" children.  i use quotations because to anyone not knowing their mother is white, they look like what we know of as "black".  you see, their father is from Kenya, so he isn't just brown, his skin is VERY dark, nearly the color black.  

when my stepmom went to adopt a set of twins who had African in their genetic background, the agency nearly denied her because she is white.  she had to explain that she had biological black children (literally half African) and she wanted children that looked like her daughters (she had a hysterectomy and couldn't have more).  also, she was still married to her kids dad and he would also be adopting the twin boys.  once they knew all that, the agency gave the go ahead.

in today's society, my opinion is that skin color itself shouldn't matter.  HOWEVER, there are differences between races that do need addressed.  different races have different needs with skincare and haircare (as the most minor examples).  i'm "white" and to look at me, you really can't tell when my skin is dry.  i can tell when i'm "ashy" and need moisturizer (and i DO get ashy, that layer of grayness that is more noticeable on dark skin when it's dry), but it's not noticeable to most people because i'm fair skinned.  and i hate the way lotion feels on my skin, i always feel more dried out after using it (ever notice the main ingredient on most lotions is water?  if you want soft skin, it needs to be an oil), so i prefer going to the section for darker people.  my skin always feels better with those products.  so, i at least know about that.  i will admit that i know nothing about the care of another race's hair.  i think i'm rambling....

i guess my opinion isn't that just whites need training when parenting another race, but ALL races should be trained before parenting a child of other racial origin.

Answer 10

I'm not sure that "training" is necessary. I believe that if you are adopting a child of a different race you need to at least do some research on the culture the child comes from, but I think that the racial "training" some are suggesting will cause some people to hesitate at adopting outside of their race and on top of that it may make it even harder(not to mention longer) for children to get placed in permanent, loving homes.

Answer 11

dear heaven, yes.  i'm often amazed at how little some white people know about other cultures- they have good hearts, but knowing things like how to comb/maintain hair that is different than yours, knowing that black skin needs to be moisturized daily, etc are basic things that can help so much.  children can be very cruel to one another and it really frustrates me when i see white parents (same with interracial parents) that don't even take thier kids to salons that know how to do black hair, even if they themselves know nothing.  heck, sending them home with an instructional guide might help.  i'm not saying they need to go to a traditional black church, etc, but they should have some training on how to make sure thier child feels included and no ostracized from other people.  same goes for children of other races.  ethnic parents are used to being ethnic, so are more likely to know that that may not know something, and look for answers.  for instance, an asian parent may be used to going to the ethnic aisle for thier own goods, and will think of the black/latino ethnic aisle right beside it.  but white people usually don't even go to that side of the store, so they don't know.

Answer 12

Yes, anyone adopting out of their own race or culture should be required to become culturally competent in their child's culture.

Answer 13

no vise versa they shouldnt as long as you teach a child where it comes from there shouldnt be a difference. Kids only reconize love not color.

Answer 14

Training in what?

What a disgusting question and article.

Answer 15

my parents are white. I'm bi-racial. Did I experince some problems? Yes, I did. My mother didn't really know how to do my hair. I got made fun of by black people more so than white people for having white parents. With that said- i wouldn't trade my parents for anything. They are the best! What I take expection to is the black foster care worker who told my parents "i would rather see her in an orphanage rather with you people." It is attuides by these advocate groups that scare me, they would rather keep kids in foster care so they can recurit more minority couples. but in the mean time most kids age out of the foster care system. how is that helping us? kids need to be placed in a loving home, no matter the race!

Answer 16

i think it would be imprtant for adoptive parents to be educated on the ethnic and cultural background of the child they are adopting.

Answer 17

Yes, I think anyone adopting transracially needs training. I think it is important to consider what kind of environment you can provide a child before adopting a child of a particular culture. Will they often be the only non-white (or non-xyz) child in a group? Do you have friends with the same ethnic background as you child? I think it is easy to forget these things when you want to bring home a baby or small child, but they are crucial as your child grows and forms their own identity.

Answer 18

I read a story about this study in my local paper and found it interesting.  We internationally adopted our son, and he is not of our race.  We did take a training class as mandated by our adoption agency.  Not sure how I feel about this in general, but we definitely need to put the needs of the children first.

Answer 19

I have no idea, however, there is a great group on yahoo groups that talks about the hair care difference to take care of black children's hair care needs.  Good luck adopting!

Answer 20

Are you an idiot?? All any child needs is love and stability!! We are humans.

Answer 21

I think obviously anyone who adopts a child that is not their race regardless if the child is black or some other race that is different from the adoptive parents. That they should defiantly educate themselves. There are books out there  on Transracial adoption , books on  heritages etc.  They should also make an effort to find friends that are the same race as their child if they don’t already have them. I think it would be a benefit if they lived in a diverse area or were willing to move to one. Obviously that wouldn’t be a requirement but I truly feel it would be the best place. That’s the reason my parents picked a diverse neighborhood to live in because I was Mixed raced and they thought that would be better for me growing up.

I do think monoraical parents who have mixed raced kids also need to educate themselves even more if one of the parents is not in the picture. As well as do other things that are mentioned. There is little literature out there on raising multiracial children, but luckily with the Mixed Race Movement that will eventually not be the case.  In fact the entire Foster Care System needs to be reeducated about Mixed Raced kids.

An article on Mixed raced kids in Foster Care System

http://www.casanet.org/library/foster-ca...