Should black parents adopt white kids?

Well, I don't think it's wrong. But it doesn't make a lot of sense when, like you said, there is plenty of black children that need homes. And since there is more of a demand for white children it makes me wonder what the deal is. I don't think it's wrong for white people to adopt black kids either but they shouldn't try to raise them like they are white. Most bi-racial people could tell you the problems of trying to find a place to "belong". In a post racial society none of this should matter but we aren't there yet for sure.

Why the hell shouldn't a black parent adopt a white child? I think a good parent should be with a child in need...who cares what races are involved...period.

If we existed within the paradigm where our eyes were no longer fooled by the perpetual illusions of inferiority and superiority, then this would not be an issue. I love the fact that you commented on wether or not Taniqua played with white baby dolls or not. Brilliant. I am sure she did. I did, and it took several years of deprogramming to reach a point where I had a balanced self image. Let's face it, there are few adds in the paper seeking the adoption of black babies into loving, two-lawyer households. The egg donor recipients do not want to receive African genetics. Bottom line, the trend leans toward the rapid adoption of white babies. Granted, every child deserves a home. But when you analyze the grave disparity between the motherless/fatherless black child and that of white....well, we know the story. I think we are seeing a subconscious role playing of self hatred here, I must say. When we also take into account that the majority of people of African descent have deep wounds regarding family and its wholeness. That the severing of the family/community is still occurring today, how can I not cringe at this picture? Or at the idea that when black folks do gain economic freedom, at least more than most, you still will not help your own. We have not evolved past the wounds of color or the limitations of the physical plane in order to truly function on a spiritual level, giving every living vibration respect, dignity, and a congruent co-existence. Until then, we cannot just pretend that its all good. I am happy the baby has a home, but I am sure there were more parents ready to adopt this child than a little black baby boy. At least thats what the picture says.

You commentors are nuts. There are thousands upon thousands of African-descendant kids that are homeless and orphaned. And you people think we should be color blind? When it comes to our f**king kids?! If you wanna know what's wrong with our community, take a look in the mirror.

Are you serious? I don't care what the hell is going on...you mean to tell me that they couldn't find a black baby to adopt? You mean to tell me that with all the money that he has he couldn't travel this country to find a black baby BOY or GIRL? You mean to tell me that I am suppose to be happy for them for doing so? I am happy that the baby got a loving home but I am f**ked up with the fact they did that! All these black baby boys that need homes...all these black, fatherless boys out here and they didn't see ONE...?! WTF?! That story messed up my day. As hard as we are trying to bring our black boys up in a great environment ....what does that say to our black youth...oh...we support you but we don't want you in our house because we don't know how you will grow up? Or what you will become? Are we saying we will help if we can but not too much...? We don't value you enough to RAISE YOU...?! They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I would hate to be the grandparent of that little white baby. It don't make no damn sense. AT ALL. (that was for everyone thinking that but didn't want to say it)

Thank you, Orlando. You knocked it outta the park.

Y'know it takes a lot of nerve to take these folks to task for adopting a kid for such a pitiful (and ridiculous in 2008)reason, then turn around and say you feel their pain and wish them all the best. I'm fortunate enough to have a close friend who works as a social worker and I can promise you, Field Negro- when it comes to worst of the worst violence and abuse and neglect that is visited on many kids everyday, the color of their skin isn't sparing them any pain. We ought to be commending this couple for opening their homes and lives to a child that really needs them. Grow up already.

Here we have two happy parents adopting a child. Why do you have to bring race into the equation? Can't we move beyond that?

A reason that it could be a problem is that if there are numerous black children for adoption and few white children, it makes more sense to adopt a black child. If that were not the case, I would see nothing wrong with having a black couple adopt a white child, at least in theory. I suppose that it could create social and identity problems, but probably that would depend at least partly on where they live and other factors which I am not qualfied to understand completely. I hope that eventually we will see a day when race will not be so important, but I don't expect to live to see it.

Hi I 'm not from this country but I was raised here, and I think that you are wicked and no wicked person should be allowed to adopt children and some do! and quite playing the race card because 90% of the time when a black woman has children with a white man [ a thorough bread white/ European] the child never comes out looking black the hair the complexion is European and many times the eyes are too... thats why you have Hispanic America they are mostly the bastard children of slaves and many white Americans no that and that's why they try to cover up things white America they want every one to think blacks are worthless who cares if some one wants to adopt a white child as long as that child is treated right one day he will grow up to be president of the United States and free up somethings that aren't politically correct for my black American sisters and brothers .... and many of you are 1/2 black so why don't you go and get a D.N.A test and I pray to god/God that you will find peace with your self because you are so brain washed and you are not knowledgeable enough to know that a lots of whites do adopt black kids and why should any thing be wrong if black couples adopt white children and this would be a great way to help mend our wounds white and black stop playing the race card you don't have any point! Get a life dude..........

"...thats why you have Hispanic America they are mostly the bastard children of slaves..." Seriously, how could you say something like that out loud? It was grossly insensitive. I am sure many Hispanics might have a thing or two to say to you. At any rate as much as I am in favor of an adoptive child having a loving home, I have to confess a prejudice against cross racial adoptions. Our world is RACIALLY polarized, to deny this is fool-hardy and senseless. People refuse to acknowledge the difficulty that a child faces when he/she confronts or is confronting by the fact that their parents are of another race. As Chris first mentioned bi-racial kids have enough of a problem. I love children, I think they are wonderful and beautiful but given the choice I would not adopt a White baby. Kids have enough to deal with as they grow up.

Well if you say there are more black kids to be adopted then the question you should be asking is why instead of asking why they adopted a white baby. Why are there more black boys without parents? why are there more blacks to adopt than whites? Can you answer this? we now have a black man running for president so what excuse are you going to use for this? Don't want to work to support your back kids? Can't make a living for them unless your selling drugs? Just asking here. Come on now tell me why you don't have parents for these black kids. If you can't support these kids then why are you opening you legs and why are all these black men wanting you to open them to get a child they don't want. Ever heard of birth control? Ever heard of work? Don't even go there that the job market is to blame or that there are no schools for you to learn at, those grants are free for the blacks and we all know it. You wanted the schools to help you go forward in life and now that it is free where the hell are you? Why don't these black kids have parents is what I want to know.

Orlando you answered you own questions and didn;t even know it. You even think of your own race as trouble lol. (...we support you but we don't want you in our house because we don't know how you will grow up? Or what you will become? Are we saying we will help if we can but not too much...? We don't value you enough to RAISE YOU...?! They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I would hate to be the grandparent of that little white baby.) You are so racist but it is against you own color because your words describe what you think of the black kids and the white race all at one time. If you did not think of black boys the way you do then you would have never have said what you think about black kids. You seem to think your own color is not worth raising because you don't know what they will become. If anyone should be ashamed it should be you. Your words went against blacks and whites. Your an evil person. Thank God your not the grandmother of this baby because you would never see a baby, you would see a color taking away from the black kids even though you think they are not worthy of being raised in the first place. What you gonna say to God if he is white or medium colored? Are you gonna say I hate you because you take away from blacks even though we are not worth anything and are not allowed in your home because we all know blacks will grow up to be nothing? Hope you never had kids because i bet they all have no selfworth by the way you think. SHAME ON YOU ORLANDO.

Hey Orlando maybe they wanted a white baby because they did not want it to grow up and have the type of fathers for its child that most black baby boys have,a no show. If they adopted a black baby boy then he would have babies all over the nation and not taking care of them and giving them up for adoption.huh. Why adopt a baby boy when we all know they leave their children at least that is what you implied. Where are the fathers of these black boys huh? Before you start to say something against white babies maybe you should worry about why those black baby dads are not around. Speak up about that why don't you instead of a white baby that has nothing to do with black fathers and mothers not wanting them.

Not all Caucasian infants are desirable by adoptive families. Caucasian infants exposed to alcohol and/or drugs are MORE difficult to place than a healthy black baby. The same could also be said about a large white sibling group too. Don't make blanket statements saying ALL white children can find adoptive homes. This is simply not true.

Adopting a human is a great thing to do. Doesn't matter what they look like. Should people adopt disabled kids? What about the blind ones? The poor ones.. What about green kids?.. What about a Chinese or Oriental family? Could they adopt a black kid? Does the child care? Will it confuse them when they grow up? We are all human beings. Once we understand that - we will have transcended another boundary that only acts to devide. Being black, white or orange isn't about identity... It isn't about culture. It's just a fact of life. Why is the concept that we ARE all the same so hard for some to swallow? We might not come from the same socio-economic backgrounds - we may not all be equal; We are, however, all people. Have some respect.

To comment on your white friend who wanted to adopt a black child, social workers are not trying to discourage white foster parents from transracial adoption. They are simply being cautious on the physcological outcome. You (I'm guessing) being black knows how it is to grow up being black and that it is a double standard for us. Now when white parents aren't clear on their views of race and the child's cultural development it can be a problem. Alot of white parents who adopt transracially try to strive to teach their children a sense of a color blind world. Which is a admerable goal but is not the reality of America in 2008. Even though we are inches from a black president (and by the time you read this he WILL be president) there are still racial profiling, prejudice, and discrimination. Plus being a black person the child will have to be able to social with both white and black people and there are things you learn about black culture that you can only learn by being in the culture daily. So even if the parent tries to teach their child black history and read them things of black culture, they will only KNOW ABOUT black culture and not KNOW black culture. An easier way to say it is that it will be hard for a kid in Beverly Hills to talk with the folks down on Crenshaw. But all that I aside I think if a white person is aware and has thought about the problems that they and the child will face and knows how they will deal with them then they are perfectly fine adopting transracially. It's when they have not reflected on those things when it's a problem. I hope this have probably help cleared things up for you.

I think black famlies that adopt white children over the black ones that need homes are clearly self-race hating individuals. some black feel that the less they associate themselves with other blacks the better they will look in white people's eyes. both of the people in the story are deep brown skinned, In the black community the lighter the skin the better, that is why bi-racial children are so cherished in black famlies. Light skin and "good" hair. I bet that they live in a neighborhood with little to no black famlies. I believe that taking their little white daughter to playdates will (in their minds) open more doors for them than a little black boy or girl would. I am very sad for them because they obviously can never be viewed as white(but want to be) but they can brag that their daughter is.

What's the big deal. White People can adopt any color kid they want and nobody says boo hiss, because everyone assumes that white is right and they can do no wrong and can of course compensate for any cultural dissent in their adopted child, well just because the white way is assumedly better. Isn't it somewhat wrong in trying to apply the "keeping it real" stigma to this guy just because he's black. Nobody's pondering how Angelina Jolie is a self hating cracker muffin because she goes around adopting multi-ethnic babies. Maybe this couple just wanted a child to love and scooped up the first one they got. So what's the big flipping deal?

My husband and I are in the early stages of adopting a baby girl. So early, we don't even have her yet. We are a black couple. Initially I asked my husband how he'd feel about adoptiing a little white boy. He was ok with it afting some convincing. Here was my rationale...I thought if we adopted a White baby boy we could raise him to be a wonderful White Man. He will marry a White woman and they will have more White children with an open mind and great insight about the Black community. By him being raised by Black parents he would certainly not be a racist or prejudice in any way. He will raise White children who also will not be racist, etc. They will have these wonderful jobs and hire plenty of Black people (fairly of course). I was thinking along the lines of raising a great White man to do my part to help end racism. HOWEVER...when I kept thinking about all of the Black children who need families, this rationale went out the window quick. We are going through classes now to get licensed through the dept. of social services...private adoptions just cost too much. We hope to get a beautiful, healthy BLACK baby girl some time this year.

A homeless child is a homeless child. Period. They probably went through a difficult process of trying to find a baby that they could connect with, and in the end, the one that they chose was the one that captured their hearts. The day when skin color isn't a determinate couldn't come quickly enough. The race card is a bit desperate.

I am really on the fence with this especially since I am in the process of adopting. I am a single black man that has worked in detention centers and seeing the need up close for children in the foster care system. Needless to say this is a daunting task as well as finding exactly how to do this. I was really shocked to see that this black couple had decided to adopt a white baby but I am certain their is a story that goes with this. I have seen this both ways, white couples adopting black babies and children while black families are passed over etc. It seems we are victimized on both ends, also for anyone single men in my position trying to adopt please stay away from private agencies. The private agencies tend to stereotype you first as a man then as a black man i.e. why are you adopting? Are you a predator or potentially violent? It is truly mind boggling and many of these workers are black women. I agree with Nunya i will be dealing with a private agency later this year over an agency how could i have been so stupid. I do wish this couple well but I have to admit I am adopting some black children it is our responsibility I can only speak for myself.

As long as there is love, I don't see what the problem is.

Totally agree. Whites should adopt whites and blacks should adopt blacks.

I am not happy with what I am about to type but, yes they are wrong to adopt a baby that is not black. My husband and I are AA and adoptive parents. There are so many black children out there who need homes, I am not talking about older foster kids who need homes but healthy AA infants if that is your preference. We were not even finished with our home study when we got the call for a healthy newborn. One of my best friends got a healthy AA newborn two weeks after her home study was completed. So why on earth would an AA couple not adopt an AA baby? Its almost irresponsible. I have no respect for what they have done.

And the agencies that both my friend and I used are calling us back telling us they are still looking for AA couples to adopt AA babies they have several available.

hi i am a man from south africa and i totaly agree with you, we as black people have so much values and beliefs that we are being taught when we grow up, and only our black folks can teach us that, no book can teach a black child his roots, its a pity that the overseas "swallows" as shaka zulu refered to them, come here take our kids, poor or not poor it aint helping feeding a child with all the money you have and depriving them of their values. all i am saying is that should we decide to adopt, we shud stick into our own races, this aint no racism its just a fact.

As you stated, white couples are discouraged from adopting black babies because white parents may not teach the black child of it's black roots. I'm sure white couples have to prove they know about black culture and history before the adoption agency even considers approving the adoption. But this black couple named the baby "Marley", after a BLACK drug abusing reggae musician. This is a hateful name to give to a white girl. Most blacks hate white people and don't try to hide it. It is child abuse to put a white child at the mercy of black parents. Since there are many white couples looking to adopt, this adoption was motivated by hatred for the white baby. Don't think blacks hate whites? Try moving your white family into a black neighborhood. No sane white family would ever consider doing this if they had any other alternative.

I have to admit, reading this article I was intrigued at the idea. First and foremost here is my open and unabashed self description: I am a white male who was raised in an environment where I was exposed to racist comments and given a sense of superiority. Even nowadays I find myself susceptible to stereotypes and distrust based on those stereotypes. I have to say I've had many instances where the distrust is missing because the person infront of me presents themselves in a confident and uncommon fashion from what I've been trained to know. Yet you always have race in the back of your mind. I've been presented with a unusual opportunity. A friend of mine has a sister who for certain reasons was deemed unfit to raise her child and subsequently lost custody of the child to the State. We recently learned that the Mother will now get once a month visitation. I asked my friend if there was a chance my wife and I could adopt the child. Her initial reaction: "You want a black baby?" It crossed my mind, but my biggest concern is where will this child end up? If we adopted the baby, we could keep the mother in touch. I do believe there are cultural differences that must be addressed and I think it's ridiculous to think anyone can ignore that. But I think I could make myself a better person and do good for a couple people by maintaining a mother-child relationship that embraces culture.. but at the same time giving us an education in true love and real consideration for something that may be 'different' from us.

okay, so here is my take. we do not live in a post racial society. "colorblind" does not help minorities, if anything it makes things worse, as a "colorblind" society ignores reality. its not that the black family adopted a white child that is so bad...its the fact that they adopted the white child, when so many black children need homes. as a biracial girl. i was only raised by my white side, it wasnt until recently all the race issues became problematic. i was never raised to deal with race...i was raised in a false world, and now at age 20, i have to figure this all out, and on my own. if its hard for someone biracial who was raised by their biological white side, i can only imagine how harder it must be for black (especially dark skinned blacks) to be raised by white parents. im not against whites adopting black, as long as their intentions are legit, and as long as they learn the culture. the biggest problem with white parents, are that they still think like white people, and treat them like white people. that was my mom's biggest mistake...she considers me white and uses that to justify saying what she wants about black people. the problem with "colorblind" adoptions, is that by law, they cant force people to take classes to educate the adoptive parent...in the end, this hurts the child. someone on here said all you need is love. im sorry, but thats not true. this is real life we are talking about, love isnt all that powerful. when you raise a child that is a different race from you, you will have extra steps in raising them. there is more you have to do, compared to raising your own race. thinking that love is all one needs will only cause the child to be messed up later on. people need to enter the real world.

Who cares if the parents are black, to hell with this culture argument! a baby that is adopted NEEDS A HOME AND LOVING AND CARING PARENTS.for a child it's better to have black parents than become a part of foster care.

I agree with Orlando. This is wrong. Black infants and youngsters are available galore for adoption. Why did they have to do this? It sends a negative message to the Black community.

what is the message kat? and are they sending it to the same black community that seems not to be beating down the doors to adopt the "black infants and youngsters [that] are available galore"?

The wares didnt go out and look for a white baby.They told their pastor that they were looking to adopt and he told them that he knew of a pregnant girl that was looking for a home for their baby.SO that is how they ended up with Marley. You know sometimes black people make me sick .Why does race have to be brought up all the time.This baby is in a loving family and is loved.WHo cares what race she is.How many people objecting to this adoption have adopted black children themselves.....Dont worry Ill wait

Hello! people you need to wake up and think a bit. Race should most definately not matter when coming to adoptions!I am adopted from birth(parents are a different race). And I have taken a ton of thought into this.I realized that if they hadn't adopted me I could still be in an adoption center, people of my race checking me out, deciding they want to adopt me and then go and change their minds! Now my parents realize I'm not a little kid anymore and I am gonna want to know my cultures, so I went to them! If the kid wants to know anything about his/her culture then they need to ask. Don't Be afraid to ask! I am super glad i was adopted! Because now i know i have a loving and permanent, and great home!!! And maybe if you all would just STOP thinking about race and started thinking about how the kid will feel and your responsibilities you'll have a parent, I PROMISE YOU WILL, do the RIGHT thing!!!