Comments on: Thoughts on Transracial Adoption http://foreverparents.com/2008/12/thoughts-on-transracial-adoption.html ...since 2002 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:57:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mark Diebel http://foreverparents.com/2008/12/thoughts-on-transracial-adoption.html/comment-page-1#comment-52554 Mark Diebel Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:20:43 +0000 http://foreverparents.com/?p=463#comment-52554 I had the chance the other day to find a dad with three children, boys, Asian adoptees, at a large pre-thanksgiving day dinner. I sat next to them because I am also an Asian adoptee. When the children left the table to play I said to him, "I'm an Asian adoptee too; we grow up! :-)" I suggested some contacts for him and gave him my phone number. Two things: one, for white people it is natural not to think of race because this is basically a white society. Most of my friends and people I work with today don't think of me looking different. I do. And it means something. Second thing: Because it means something, and has a lifelong importance...an importance that will outlast the lives of the parents... acquaint yourselves with a couple transracial adoptee writers, one is Sandra Patton-Imani and the other is Jaiya John. I know you think that race may matter, but you really know it when you are not white in this country. I had the chance the other day to find a dad with three children, boys, Asian adoptees, at a large pre-thanksgiving day dinner. I sat next to them because I am also an Asian adoptee. When the children left the table to play I said to him, “I’m an Asian adoptee too; we grow up! :-) ” I suggested some contacts for him and gave him my phone number.

Two things: one, for white people it is natural not to think of race because this is basically a white society. Most of my friends and people I work with today don’t think of me looking different. I do. And it means something.
Second thing: Because it means something, and has a lifelong importance…an importance that will outlast the lives of the parents… acquaint yourselves with a couple transracial adoptee writers, one is Sandra Patton-Imani and the other is Jaiya John.

I know you think that race may matter, but you really know it when you are not white in this country.

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