Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Racism is bad. Unless we say it's not.

The "experts" at the Evan B. Donaldson Institute who help design and implement adoption policies in this country have apparently decided that the 1994 Multi-Ethnic Placement Act is allowing too many white families to adopt black children, and that outcome seems to be a very bad thing, as opposed to, say, having those kids not be adopted at all because of a shortage of black adoptive families.

"'Color consciousness - not colorblindness - should help to shape policy development,' the report said".

We're subjected constantly to the drumbeat that racism is bad in all situations and colorblindness is good in all situations, except when the opposite is true in this situation, I guess. After all, it's "for the children".

I fail to see, though, how allowing black children to languish in foster care when there are qualified parents of any color willing to adopt them is really giving these minority kids the kind of help they need and want. I imagine that if you were to ask the involved children, they would respond with "Quit doing us favors, willya?".

"For example, White parents seeking to adopt a Black child cannot be required to undergo race-oriented training that differs in any way from training that all prospective adoptive parents receive."

For God's sake, just what kind of "race-oriented training" does there need to be? How to speak jive? Where to find FUBU brand diapers? The proper application of Dark n' Lovely? Why can't the kids just be placed in a loving, stable environment and allowed to grow up in peace, instead of first indoctrinating the new parents in just how different their new charges are from them, and how major changes in their parenting style are going to have to be made, because, dammit, you just can't treat these kids the same as your white kids? Why, the next thing you know, you'll have a Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on your hands!

Just imagine the reverse scenario. "Mr. and Mrs. black adoptive parent, we're going to send you to white school so that your new precious little white snowflake child can manage to function in society, because your race is so much different than the norm, you know." Think about the outcry that sort of statement would cause. Well, how is that sort of mentality any different than assuming that white people will only botch the raising of kids who happen to be a different skin shade than they are? Kids are kids, you know. All they need are decent, quality parents who will love them unconditionally, and they'll be just fine.

Once again, onerous Federal government interference has managed to screw up what should be a very straightforward process. Let's regulate more stuff!!

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