Adoption Should Be Color-Blind, Kristin St. John Passage Picker- Sandy Rambow
1. “Far from practicing ‘cultural genocide,’ however, my family proved sympathetic and helpful when, as a freshman in high school, I went through a period of exploring my heritage”(94). This passage is important because it not only explains that adopting of opposite race does not ruin the life of the child because her parents were supportive in her exploring her heritage and also helped her to understand all cultures. This shows that if an effort is made by the adoptive family to be honest with the adopted child, it is more likely that the child will accept who they are and also gain knowledge on where they came from. 2. “It’s interesting to me that whenever I listen to the ‘debate’ over transracial adoption, there’s one set of voices that rarely gets the chance to speak. These voices belong to African-American children of white adoptive parents. The few of us who do manage to be heard, mostly on syndicated talk shows, seem to have been chosen precisely because their experiences have been negative […] not once have I ever felt that the person on the screen spoke for me” (94). This is a longer, but very important passage because it shows how many times the media and government can really twist information around to make the viewers believe what they want them to believe. They do this is newspapers, on commercials, and on the news. Just like many times oil companies skew the information on graphs; these groups opposed to inter-racial adoptions will show and tell of only the negative and bad experiences of inter-racial adoptions. The truth is that if you pulled a just few random kids that were not even adopted, one of them would probably say that they have had a negative experience being in the family that they were born into. 3. “Everyone-and especially children whose biological parents cannot, for one reason or another, take care of them- should be given the opportunity to see that, as trite as it may sound, love really is color-blind” (95). This is one of the most important passages in the essay, mainly because it brings the main idea together to prove St. John’s point; that real love is not restricted based on the color of someone’s skin. Love has to do with the feelings about the inside of a person, not the outside. St. John really wanted to make sure that the reader understood that it is important to at least give the children that need a home, the chance to be loved by a family, no matter what their race. It would be better to be given the chance to be loved than to not be given the chance at all.
“Adoption Should Be Color-Blind” Discussion Director
Transracial adoption should be color-blind. When it comes to family, it does not matter the race or color. If everyone can be treated equally, then every family member can be happy. The narrator of “Adoption Should Be Color-Blind,” Kristin St. John, had a biological father who was African American. She wanted to tell everyone that she was accepted into a white family despite her race. She loved her adoptive parents and family. St. John’s family was supportive of her when she decided to explore her heritage as a freshman in high school. She immersed herself in books and movies that dealt with Native American and African-American culture. Kristin St. John wants everyone to see that love is color-blind. Everyone should have the opportunity to be in a loving family. If a loving family means being adopted, then it should be done. I agree with St. John and believe transracial adoption should be color-blind. I also agree that it is better for a child to have loving parents of a different race than to have no parents at all. Discussion Questions What do you think of transracial adoption? Would you feel comfortable being adopted into a family of an opposite race?
The story “Adoption Should be Color-Blind” was written by Kristin St. John tells the story about her life and her views about transracial adoption. Kristin St. John was born in Buffalo, New York in 1974. She was born to a sixteen year old mother who was half white and half Native American and a father who was African-American. Her birth mother’s mother forced her daughter to give Kristin up for adoption. A couple named Judy and Nicholas St. John were looking to adopt a baby girl and did not care about race. They went to one adoption agency and where turned down because the agency refused to cross racial lines. They heard about a black baby girl that was up for an adoption at another agency and they were able to adopt her regardless of the fact that they were both white. Kristen grew up with her new family and two older brothers that were her parent’s biological children. Even 21 years after she was adopted by her parents she was amazed to find out that the views about transracial adoption have not changed much at all. When the U.S senate passes the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act it was strongly opposed by members of the Association of Black Social Workers who believe that adoptees should only be placed with same race parents and if they did not it would cause “ cultural genocide.”Kristen would see African-American children on talk shows that were adopted by white parents and they often portrayed a negative view. Kristen was proud of her racial background and her biological and cultural backgrounds as well. To her no one that she saw on T.V portrayed her situation as an African-American that is proud of the white family she grew up with. When she was in high school Kristin became very interested in her ethnic background and immersed herself in books about African-American and Native-American cultures. Her family fully supported her and made an effort to point out people of color that where positive role models. She has made it clear to her reader that she is sure about her identity and completely believe that “love really is color-blind.”(pg.95)
Shanya Tinsley "Adoption Should Be Color-blind" Researcher
The most recent estimate of transracial adoption was performed in 1987 by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The findings revealed that only 8% of all adoptions include parents and children of different races. 1% of white women adopt black children 5% of white women adopt children of other races 2% of women of other races adopt white children (estimates include foreign-born). (Stolley, 1993) An estimated 15% of the 36,000 adoptions of foster children in FY 1998 were transracial or transcultural adoptions. (US DHHS, 2000)
The research that has been done to date suggests that transracial adoption is a viable means of providing stable homes for waiting children. Nearly a dozen studies consistently indicate that approximately 75% of transracially adopted preadolescent and younger children adjust well in their adoptive homes. (Silverman, 1993) In a 1995 study, transracial adoption was not found to be detrimental for the adoptee in terms of adjustment, self-esteem, academic achievement, peer relationships, parental and adult relationships. (Sharma, McGue, Benson, 1995
Black children and white parents have always defined the debate about transracial adoption, achieving a symbolic importance that overshadowed their tiny numbers. After Loving v. Virginia, a 1967 Supreme Court case that made laws prohibiting racial intermarriage unconstitutional, some states, such as Louisiana, continued to ban transracial adoptions. Family-making between blacks and whites was invariably what these statutes aimed to prevent. Even at their peak around 1970, perhaps 2,500 such adoptions were finalized each year, and no more than 12,000 African-American children in all were placed in white homes before 1975. Researchers, policy-makers, and child welfare professionals carefully scrutinized these adoptions in hopes of discovering whether inter-racial families helped or hurt children, and how. Outcome studies rarely showed that children’s development or identity were positively harmed, but they still could not answer the most important question. Was transracial adoption a socially desirable or undesirable policy in a society dedicated to pluralism but also polarized by racial strife?
The debate about transracial adoption changed course in 1972, when the National Association of Black Social Workers issued a statement that took “a vehement stand against the placements of black children in white homes for any reason,” calling transracial adoption “unnatural,” “artificial,” “unnecessary,” and proof that African-Americans continued to be assigned to “chattel status.” The organization was so committed to the position that black children’s healthy development depended on having black parents that its President, Cenie J. Williams, argued that temporary foster and even institutional placements were preferable to adoption by white families. This opposition slowed black-white adoptions to a trickle. In 1973, the Child Welfare League of America adoption standards, which had been revised in 1968 to make them slightly friendlier to transracial adoption, were rewritten to clarify that same-race placements were always better. The child welfare establishment never supported transracial adoptions.
Chris Dennis "Adoption Should Be Color-blind" Creative Connector
In the story Adoption Should be Color-Blind you learn about certain laws that influence the way people with different ethnic backgrounds are allowed to adopt children. They are for some reason rather strict and if color effects the way you care, or love someone. This is an awful example of racism in my opinion. Saying that a white child wouldn’t get the same care if his parents were African American. In this story Kristen explains how that is not true. She grew up with the same amount of love, and care from her parents and brothers as she would in any type of conventional family. She became a successful writer and a great person. This should show people to change the adoption laws. In some cases competition shows the affection between brother and sisters. The older siblings dominance in activities when you are younger forces you to try to trick him in order of taking a victory. This is the case in Sibling Imprints. The story starts with the a family driving home on a hot summer day from the beach in a car with no air conditioner. The children or each given a bowl of ice cream and the younger sister thinks that she can wait until her older brother eats all of his ice cream, after he is finished she will still be eating and he will beg for more. Well she thinks her plan has worked and she gloats then eats her ice cream. Except the problem for her is the older brother did the same thing and still had his ice cream when she finished. She cried and was defeated by her older brother once again. When she is grown up she still has the competitive urge with her husband. In the two stories you realize how the love in family effects the way you grow up. In both stories the character faced family issues and it influenced who they became later in life. Whether if was Kristen being proud of her natural heritage, and the culture her parents who adopted her left her with, or the competitiveness a older bother and younger sister have helps you later become a better writer, and not take stuff for granite. When it comes down to it whether you have a conventional family, or a unconventional family you still have the same love and care from your parents and siblings.
This story deals with an African-American girl who is adopted by a white family. She talks about how she grew up and how she had a great relationship with her adopted parents. The race factor didn't affect her much. I chose to make adoption color-blind myself. All of the pictures are in black and white with no color. They all look happy without race being a factor
Hold The Mayonnaise Julia Alvarez • Dane Mitcheson-Researcher • Rae Lyn Helmick-Summarizer • Trevor Jones-Passage Picker • Tara Hutton-Icon Crafter • Megan Riddle-Creative Connector Julia Alvarez • Julia Alvarez is the author of this selection. Alvarez was born in New York City and lived there her first three months of life. However, she was raised in the Dominican Republic. Her family fled the country due to political reasons. Her father was involved with the Mirabal sisters’ underground network. The Mirabal sisters were executed by the Trujillo Dictatorship three months after the Alvarez family left the country. Julia actually wrote a historical novel called “In Time of the Butterflies” which was about the Mirabals. She moved back to New York City at the age of 10 and did not know English well. Alvarez was made fun of by the American kids. • When Julia Alvarez came to New York City, she had to tediously study every word to understand the languages which lead to her reading a lot. She enjoyed books because of the thought and imagination that went into them. She also enjoyed telling stories. Therefore, writing became her love. • During high school, college, and graduate school, she always took a creative writing. Unfortunately, Latino writers were unheard of during the late sixties and early seventies. Due to this fact, she began teaching creative writing. At first she worked with poetry-in-school programs, this lead to a lot of travel. Then, she became a high school teacher which was followed by a college teaching. Finally, she started writing for some magazines that lead to a couple of writing awards. • In 1991 she published her first novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” through Algonquin Brooks. At 41 she had her first book contract. During this time, she also earned tenure at Middlebury College. Although Alvarez loved teaching, she had to quit it in order to pursue her primary dream. This decision took a few years to make. • She now lives on a farm in Vermont with her husband Bill Eichner. They have a farm-literacy center which they started nine years ago. • Her books are as follows: “How the Carcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” “In The Time of the Butterflies,” “The Other Side/El Otro Lado,” “Homecoming: New and Collected,” “YO,” “Something to Declare,” “Seven Trees,” “In the Name of Salome,” “The Secret Footprints,” “How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay,” “A Cafecito Story,” “Before We Were Free,” “The Woman I Kept To Myself,” “finding miracles,” “A Gift of Gracias The Legend of Altagracia,” “Saving the World,” and “Once Upon A Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the U.S.A.” • Her books go across all genres from poetry to children books to novels. The major subjects of her work deal with her experiences as an immigrant and her fascination of relationships that involve different cultures. Summary • The basic summary of “Hold the Mayonnaise” by Julia Alvarez is a short story by a Latin-American woman about “step-families”. In the story, Alvarez tells about her upbringing with her two Dominican parents and how she could never imagine having a different mother. She tells how since her family was catholic, the only way she would ever have another mother would be if her own died. . Alvarez also comically adds that her mother would say “don’t you accept a new woman in my house. Make her life impossible you hear?” • In the early 1960’s, her family moved to Queens, New York before many other Latin Americans did so the only woman that her father could possibly remarry would be American To Alvarez, the worst thing that she could imagine an American step-mother would be having to eat meals with mayonnaise. The story becomes very interesting when the author explains that she became a step-mother to two American girls. In effort to make things less awkward for her new step-children, she was always referring to them as “my husband’s daughters.” The girls finally question this at which point, Alvarez realizes that her step-daughters are comfortable with being called so and she begins to truly take on the roll as step-mother.
Passages of Interest • The first passage of interest shows how the influence of her mother affected her perception about stepmothers. • “If I die first and Papi ever get’s remarried,” Mami used to tease when we were kids, “don’t you accept a new woman in my house, make her life impossible you hear?” • The second passage shows her negative feelings towards having a stepmother especially an American stepmother. Madrastra is Spanish for stepmother so even thought she doesn’t like the idea of a step mother it seems the American one would be the worst off. • “It would be bad enough having a madrastra, but a “stepmother”. • The third passage shows how she perceived what a step mother was like. • “and if she were at all strict and a little mean, which all stepmothers of course were” • The fourth passage of interest is about how ironically now she is a stepmother now after years of detesting the idea of stepmothers. She seems to be feeling awkward about the American aspect. • “What I can’t push as successfully out of sight are my own immigrant childhood fears of having a gringa stepmother with foregin tastes in our house. Except now, I am the foreign stepmother in a gringa household • The fifth passage shows that she is used to situations where she does not feel welcome which is how she now feels about her being a stepmother in an American family. • “On my side, being the newcomer in someone else’s territory is a role I’m used to. I can tap into that struggling English speaker, that skinny, dark-haired, olive-skinned girl in a sixth grade if mostly blond and blue-eyed giants.” • The sixth passage shows some of her fears. Perhaps these fears are brought on by the teachings of her mother about making life miserable if she would ever have a stepmother. • “I remember times early on in the marriage when the girls would be with us, and id get out of school and drive around doing errands, killing time, until my husband, their father, would be leaving work. I am not proud of my fears, but I understand as the lingo goes where they come from.” • The final passages shows how she takes the advice of her father on how to make it in America and uses it to feel better about her situation. • “Just do your work and put in your heart, and they will accept you!” which leads her to conclude “But in a stepfamily where everyone is starting a new life together, it isn’t bad advice.” Icon Crafter Mayonnaise-This represents how the step-mother did not want to make her step-daughters do things they did not like. Evil Step-Mother-This picture represents what the step-mother feared. Latino-Blondes-American-This picture came to my mind because in the story it says how she (the stepmother) looks nothing like her stepdaughters so it is easy to tell that they are not her “real” daughters. Creative Connector • Close your eyes for a moment. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “stepmother”? • Stereotypes of stepmothers: • Evil or Mean • Wicked • Home-wrecker • Why the Stereotypes? • In fairy tales, movies and books stepmothers are portrayed negatively. • Children are exposed to these things at a young age and that image is stuck with them. • Facts about stepfamilies: • 15 million stepmothers in the United States. • 2/3 of divorced or widowed individuals choosing to remarry, causing the number of stepparents to increase rapidly. • Nearly 40 % of all families today are stepfamilies. • 1/3 of children are expected to become a stepchild before the age of 18. • 32% of African-American children are likely to live in stepfamilies. • Related Story: “Adoption Should be Color-Blind” • In this story it talks about how children are adopted into families of different cultures. • Similar to stepfamilies- the new member of the family brings their culture and customs to the family creating some changes. • Relates to “Hold the Mayonnaise” because Julia was Latin American who married into an American family. • This caused both the stepmother and the family she married into to adjust to the others culture and customs.
A Parent’s Journey Out of the Closet During the strange period of American history the 1950s, there was a: twisted and virulently homophobic psychiatrist called Edmund Bergler. : Like Dr Goebbels, Bergler was a master of propaganda, and after an initial: shot or two at writers and other dissidents, he directed his propaganda: primarily at homosexuals. Homosexuals, he kept repeating, were all very: sick people; they were "injustice collectors." Dr. Edmund Bergler! A pit stop on the march to Promised Land. His chief claim to fame was his adamant insistence that all homosexuals could be cured (by his therapy, of course) if they only wanted to be. My parents found out I was gay in 1959. First clue: large package of love letters from a married man. My parents were inveterate snoops, so it's interesting to speculate who was zooming who in this deal. Not only was this paramour a man, he was a Catholic (we were RC's and RC's didn't do those things) and he had three kids. I'm not even sure if my parents knew what we did in bed since they had a disastrous sex life, and I was conceived by Immaculate Exception. In any case, they got a referral to a shrink and pleaded that I see him before departing the busom of the family to live as an adultress in New York's evil Green-witch Village (as my parents called it.) To give myself some peace I went, naively believing that this shrink might actually know something about homosexuality. Wrong. He was hand-picked disciple of Bergler -- whom I had never heard of. I got a five minute precis of Bergler's theories. I was really an incredible wimp back then, but also innocent enough that I often saved my own ass with a simple-minded naivete that totally flummoxed other people. I told him I understood perfectly, and he could be of great help to me and my parents. As I had no interest whosoever in being cured, clearly the best thing he could do would be to explain to my parents that I was incurable and that would solve everything. Lo, these many decades later I can still see the look on his face. Somehow we had failed to communicate that I could see, but damned if I knew what went wrong. I was given a reading list of Bergler's books for my edification and left his consulting room. As I went over to my parents, my mother eagerly asked, "Are you better now?" They had their turn with Dr. Bergler's disciple. When we were driving home my mother volunteered that he had said that I did not have "a mystical type of intelligence like most homosexuals." This was a real kick in the kimono because for years I had gotten the highest marks in Christian Doctrine in both Catholic parishes in town. So much for following in the footsteps of Theresa of Avila; evidently I wasn't even to be the 20th Century's answer to Marjery Kempe. Once in NYC I discovered that Bergler was about as close to a cult as it gets, and that his reputation was getting to be that of a crank in his profession. He croaked, none too soon, and his wife made it her life's work to carry on his they-can-be-cured crusade. Seems his wife bit the dust not too many years ago still clutching the by now throughly discredited banner of her late husband. If you have read this far, does anyone remember if Bergler was the guy whose "movement" was called "Esthetic Realism" (I know that sounds improbable as the name of a therapy, but it was for real.) There was homophobic therapy cult that met in the Village in the early, early 60's with that name and methinks it was this crank. He was a real nine-day wonder. A sad footnote: His one piece of advice to my family was "Never give even the slightest indication that you accept anything about your son's homosexuality, fight it all the time." It completely destroyed our family because they stuck to it, and ultimately the only way to have peace of mind was to cut them out of my life. Such were the fruits of Dr. Bergler, one might say.
- Just like the reading the parents wanted to get their child therapy. - The child did go to therapy to do what his family wanted him to do. - It turns out that the therapist was pretty close to a cult. - The difference between the stories is that the Jewish community and Jeff’s family really understood and handle his coming out a whole lot better than Jack’s family. - I think that with the way that the Jewish family handle things really helped to let Jeff feel more comfortable about coming out to the family and his community.
Romney seeks to force gay marriage vote Rips lawmakers, eyes bid in SJC
By Scott Allen, Globe Staff | November 20, 2006 Governor Mitt Romney said yesterday that he would ask the Supreme Judicial Court to override the Legislature and let voters decide whether to ban same-sex marriage, telling a boisterous crowd of several thousand at a State House rally that lawmakers are violating the state constitution by refusing to act on the proposal. Conservative and religious groups gathered a record 170,000 signatures on a petition to put the proposed ban on same-sex marriages on the 2008 ballot, but the measure also requires the support of at least 50 legislators in two consecutive sessions to qualify for a statewide referendum. On Nov. 9, legislators voted 109 to 87 to go into recess rather than vote on the gay marriage ban, all but dooming its chances of appearing on the 2008 ballot. "The issue before us is not whether same-sex couples should marry. The issue before us today is whether 109 legislators will follow the constitution," declared Romney, promising to send the 109 lawmakers a copy of the constitution and their oath of office to underscore his frustration. "Let us not see the state, which first established constitutional democracy, become the first to abandon it." A spokesman for Romney said he would file a lawsuit with an SJC justice this week, urging the justice to direct Secretary of State William F. Galvin to place the issue on the state ballot anyway on the grounds that the Legislature is obstructing democracy. State Police estimated the crowd at about 5,000 people, with gay marriage opponents significantly outnumbering supporters.
- Just as in the Jewish society or anywhere for that matter, it would be very scary for anyone to admit that they were gay. - Romney is currently trying to get the state to look further in on the vote of same sex marriages. He wants them to let voters decide upon the issue instead of refusing the proposal. - That is a scary path to go down because if the majority votes then the minority will not really get a chance to even win the vote. - In society today everyone seems to be concerned with what to do with gay rights or to even give them any at all.
- I personally feel that gays should be able to choose whatever lifestyle that they want because if they are a member of society, pay taxes and work hard like everyone in America then they should be treated like everyone American.
news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Gays_and_Lesbians
http://www.bibble.org/gay/stories/comingout.html
The author was a social worker who was married to a rabbi, Agnes G. Herman. The is not much background that I could find out about her but that she was a very loving and understanding person. The essay helps to explain the parent’s journey finding out about how their son is gay.
10 comments:
Adoption Should Be Color-Blind, Kristin St. John
Passage Picker- Sandy Rambow
1. “Far from practicing ‘cultural genocide,’ however, my family proved sympathetic and helpful when, as a freshman in high school, I went through a period of exploring my heritage”(94).
This passage is important because it not only explains that adopting of opposite race does not ruin the life of the child because her parents were supportive in her exploring her heritage and also helped her to understand all cultures. This shows that if an effort is made by the adoptive family to be honest with the adopted child, it is more likely that the child will accept who they are and also gain knowledge on where they came from.
2. “It’s interesting to me that whenever I listen to the ‘debate’ over transracial adoption, there’s one set of voices that rarely gets the chance to speak. These voices belong to African-American children of white adoptive parents. The few of us who do manage to be heard, mostly on syndicated talk shows, seem to have been chosen precisely because their experiences have been negative […] not once have I ever felt that the person on the screen spoke for me” (94).
This is a longer, but very important passage because it shows how many times the media and government can really twist information around to make the viewers believe what they want them to believe. They do this is newspapers, on commercials, and on the news. Just like many times oil companies skew the information on graphs; these groups opposed to inter-racial adoptions will show and tell of only the negative and bad experiences of inter-racial adoptions. The truth is that if you pulled a just few random kids that were not even adopted, one of them would probably say that they have had a negative experience being in the family that they were born into.
3. “Everyone-and especially children whose biological parents cannot, for one reason or another, take care of them- should be given the opportunity to see that, as trite as it may sound, love really is color-blind” (95).
This is one of the most important passages in the essay, mainly because it brings the main idea together to prove St. John’s point; that real love is not restricted based on the color of someone’s skin. Love has to do with the feelings about the inside of a person, not the outside. St. John really wanted to make sure that the reader understood that it is important to at least give the children that need a home, the chance to be loved by a family, no matter what their race. It would be better to be given the chance to be loved than to not be given the chance at all.
“Adoption Should Be Color-Blind”
Discussion Director
Transracial adoption should be color-blind. When it comes to family, it does not matter the race or color. If everyone can be treated equally, then every family member can be happy. The narrator of “Adoption Should Be Color-Blind,” Kristin St. John, had a biological father who was African American. She wanted to tell everyone that she was accepted into a white family despite her race. She loved her adoptive parents and family. St. John’s family was supportive of her when she decided to explore her heritage as a freshman in high school. She immersed herself in books and movies that dealt with Native American and African-American culture. Kristin St. John wants everyone to see that love is color-blind. Everyone should have the opportunity to be in a loving family. If a loving family means being adopted, then it should be done.
I agree with St. John and believe transracial adoption should be color-blind. I also agree that it is better for a child to have loving parents of a different race than to have no parents at all.
Discussion Questions
What do you think of transracial adoption?
Would you feel comfortable being adopted into a family of an opposite race?
Summarizer
“Adoption Should Be Color-Blind”
The story “Adoption Should be Color-Blind” was written by Kristin St. John tells the story about her life and her views about transracial adoption. Kristin St. John was born in Buffalo, New York in 1974. She was born to a sixteen year old mother who was half white and half Native American and a father who was African-American. Her birth mother’s mother forced her daughter to give Kristin up for adoption. A couple named Judy and Nicholas St. John were looking to adopt a baby girl and did not care about race. They went to one adoption agency and where turned down because the agency refused to cross racial lines. They heard about a black baby girl that was up for an adoption at another agency and they were able to adopt her regardless of the fact that they were both white. Kristen grew up with her new family and two older brothers that were her parent’s biological children. Even 21 years after she was adopted by her parents she was amazed to find out that the views about transracial adoption have not changed much at all. When the U.S senate passes the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act it was strongly opposed by members of the Association of Black Social Workers who believe that adoptees should only be placed with same race parents and if they did not it would cause “ cultural genocide.”Kristen would see African-American children on talk shows that were adopted by white parents and they often portrayed a negative view. Kristen was proud of her racial background and her biological and cultural backgrounds as well. To her no one that she saw on T.V portrayed her situation as an African-American that is proud of the white family she grew up with. When she was in high school Kristin became very interested in her ethnic background and immersed herself in books about African-American and Native-American cultures. Her family fully supported her and made an effort to point out people of color that where positive role models. She has made it clear to her reader that she is sure about her identity and completely believe that “love really is color-blind.”(pg.95)
Shanya Tinsley
"Adoption Should Be Color-blind"
Researcher
The most recent estimate of transracial adoption was performed in 1987 by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The findings revealed that only 8% of all adoptions include parents and children of different races.
1% of white women adopt black children
5% of white women adopt children of other races
2% of women of other races adopt white children (estimates include foreign-born). (Stolley, 1993)
An estimated 15% of the 36,000 adoptions of foster children in FY 1998 were transracial or transcultural adoptions. (US DHHS, 2000)
The research that has been done to date suggests that transracial adoption is a viable means of providing stable homes for waiting children. Nearly a dozen studies consistently indicate that approximately 75% of transracially adopted preadolescent and younger children adjust well in their adoptive homes. (Silverman, 1993)
In a 1995 study, transracial adoption was not found to be detrimental for the adoptee in terms of adjustment, self-esteem, academic achievement, peer relationships, parental and adult relationships. (Sharma, McGue, Benson, 1995
Black children and white parents have always defined the debate about transracial adoption, achieving a symbolic importance that overshadowed their tiny numbers. After Loving v. Virginia, a 1967 Supreme Court case that made laws prohibiting racial intermarriage unconstitutional, some states, such as Louisiana, continued to ban transracial adoptions. Family-making between blacks and whites was invariably what these statutes aimed to prevent. Even at their peak around 1970, perhaps 2,500 such adoptions were finalized each year, and no more than 12,000 African-American children in all were placed in white homes before 1975. Researchers, policy-makers, and child welfare professionals carefully scrutinized these adoptions in hopes of discovering whether inter-racial families helped or hurt children, and how. Outcome studies rarely showed that children’s development or identity were positively harmed, but they still could not answer the most important question. Was transracial adoption a socially desirable or undesirable policy in a society dedicated to pluralism but also polarized by racial strife?
The debate about transracial adoption changed course in 1972, when the National Association of Black Social Workers issued a statement that took “a vehement stand against the placements of black children in white homes for any reason,” calling transracial adoption “unnatural,” “artificial,” “unnecessary,” and proof that African-Americans continued to be assigned to “chattel status.” The organization was so committed to the position that black children’s healthy development depended on having black parents that its President, Cenie J. Williams, argued that temporary foster and even institutional placements were preferable to adoption by white families. This opposition slowed black-white adoptions to a trickle. In 1973, the Child Welfare League of America adoption standards, which had been revised in 1968 to make them slightly friendlier to transracial adoption, were rewritten to clarify that same-race placements were always better. The child welfare establishment never supported transracial adoptions.
(http://www.uoregon.edu/~adoption/topics/transracialadoption.htm)
Chris Dennis
"Adoption Should Be Color-blind"
Creative Connector
In the story Adoption Should be Color-Blind you learn about certain laws that influence the way people with different ethnic backgrounds are allowed to adopt children. They are for some reason rather strict and if color effects the way you care, or love someone. This is an awful example of racism in my opinion. Saying that a white child wouldn’t get the same care if his parents were African American. In this story Kristen explains how that is not true. She grew up with the same amount of love, and care from her parents and brothers as she would in any type of conventional family. She became a successful writer and a great person. This should show people to change the adoption laws.
In some cases competition shows the affection between brother and sisters. The older siblings dominance in activities when you are younger forces you to try to trick him in order of taking a victory. This is the case in Sibling Imprints. The story starts with the a family driving home on a hot summer day from the beach in a car with no air conditioner. The children or each given a bowl of ice cream and the younger sister thinks that she can wait until her older brother eats all of his ice cream, after he is finished she will still be eating and he will beg for more. Well she thinks her plan has worked and she gloats then eats her ice cream. Except the problem for her is the older brother did the same thing and still had his ice cream when she finished. She cried and was defeated by her older brother once again. When she is grown up she still has the competitive urge with her husband.
In the two stories you realize how the love in family effects the way you grow up. In both stories the character faced family issues and it influenced who they became later in life. Whether if was Kristen being proud of her natural heritage, and the culture her parents who adopted her left her with, or the competitiveness a older bother and younger sister have helps you later become a better writer, and not take stuff for granite. When it comes down to it whether you have a conventional family, or a unconventional family you still have the same love and care from your parents and siblings.
Icon Crafter
"Adoption Should Be Color-blind."
This story deals with an African-American girl who is adopted by a white family. She talks about how she grew up and how she had a great relationship with her adopted parents. The race factor didn't affect her much. I chose to make adoption color-blind myself. All of the pictures are in black and white with no color. They all look happy without race being a factor
Hold The Mayonnaise
Julia Alvarez
• Dane Mitcheson-Researcher
• Rae Lyn Helmick-Summarizer
• Trevor Jones-Passage Picker
• Tara Hutton-Icon Crafter
• Megan Riddle-Creative Connector
Julia Alvarez
• Julia Alvarez is the author of this selection. Alvarez was born in New York City and lived there her first three months of life. However, she was raised in the Dominican Republic. Her family fled the country due to political reasons. Her father was involved with the Mirabal sisters’ underground network. The Mirabal sisters were executed by the Trujillo Dictatorship three months after the Alvarez family left the country. Julia actually wrote a historical novel called “In Time of the Butterflies” which was about the Mirabals. She moved back to New York City at the age of 10 and did not know English well. Alvarez was made fun of by the American kids.
• When Julia Alvarez came to New York City, she had to tediously study every word to understand the languages which lead to her reading a lot. She enjoyed books because of the thought and imagination that went into them. She also enjoyed telling stories. Therefore, writing became her love.
• During high school, college, and graduate school, she always took a creative writing. Unfortunately, Latino writers were unheard of during the late sixties and early seventies. Due to this fact, she began teaching creative writing. At first she worked with poetry-in-school programs, this lead to a lot of travel. Then, she became a high school teacher which was followed by a college teaching. Finally, she started writing for some magazines that lead to a couple of writing awards.
• In 1991 she published her first novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” through Algonquin Brooks. At 41 she had her first book contract. During this time, she also earned tenure at Middlebury College. Although Alvarez loved teaching, she had to quit it in order to pursue her primary dream. This decision took a few years to make.
• She now lives on a farm in Vermont with her husband Bill Eichner. They have a farm-literacy center which they started nine years ago.
• Her books are as follows: “How the Carcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” “In The Time of the Butterflies,” “The Other Side/El Otro Lado,” “Homecoming: New and Collected,” “YO,” “Something to Declare,” “Seven Trees,” “In the Name of Salome,” “The Secret Footprints,” “How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay,” “A Cafecito Story,” “Before We Were Free,” “The Woman I Kept To Myself,” “finding miracles,” “A Gift of Gracias The Legend of Altagracia,” “Saving the World,” and “Once Upon A Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the U.S.A.”
• Her books go across all genres from poetry to children books to novels. The major subjects of her work deal with her experiences as an immigrant and her fascination of relationships that involve different cultures.
Summary
• The basic summary of “Hold the Mayonnaise” by Julia Alvarez is a short story by a Latin-American woman about “step-families”. In the story, Alvarez tells about her upbringing with her two Dominican parents and how she could never imagine having a different mother. She tells how since her family was catholic, the only way she would ever have another mother would be if her own died. . Alvarez also comically adds that her mother would say “don’t you accept a new woman in my house. Make her life impossible you hear?”
• In the early 1960’s, her family moved to Queens, New York before many other Latin Americans did so the only woman that her father could possibly remarry would be American To Alvarez, the worst thing that she could imagine an American step-mother would be having to eat meals with mayonnaise. The story becomes very interesting when the author explains that she became a step-mother to two American girls. In effort to make things less awkward for her new step-children, she was always referring to them as “my husband’s daughters.” The girls finally question this at which point, Alvarez realizes that her step-daughters are comfortable with being called so and she begins to truly take on the roll as step-mother.
Passages of Interest
• The first passage of interest shows how the influence of her mother affected her perception about stepmothers.
• “If I die first and Papi ever get’s remarried,” Mami used to tease when we were kids, “don’t you accept a new woman in my house, make her life impossible you hear?”
• The second passage shows her negative feelings towards having a stepmother especially an American stepmother. Madrastra is Spanish for stepmother so even thought she doesn’t like the idea of a step mother it seems the American one would be the worst off.
• “It would be bad enough having a madrastra, but a “stepmother”.
• The third passage shows how she perceived what a step mother was like.
• “and if she were at all strict and a little mean, which all stepmothers of course were”
• The fourth passage of interest is about how ironically now she is a stepmother now after years of detesting the idea of stepmothers. She seems to be feeling awkward about the American aspect.
• “What I can’t push as successfully out of sight are my own immigrant childhood fears of having a gringa stepmother with foregin tastes in our house. Except now, I am the foreign stepmother in a gringa household
• The fifth passage shows that she is used to situations where she does not feel welcome which is how she now feels about her being a stepmother in an American family.
• “On my side, being the newcomer in someone else’s territory is a role I’m used to. I can tap into that struggling English speaker, that skinny, dark-haired, olive-skinned girl in a sixth grade if mostly blond and blue-eyed giants.”
• The sixth passage shows some of her fears. Perhaps these fears are brought on by the teachings of her mother about making life miserable if she would ever have a stepmother.
• “I remember times early on in the marriage when the girls would be with us, and id get out of school and drive around doing errands, killing time, until my husband, their father, would be leaving work. I am not proud of my fears, but I understand as the lingo goes where they come from.”
• The final passages shows how she takes the advice of her father on how to make it in America and uses it to feel better about her situation.
• “Just do your work and put in your heart, and they will accept you!” which leads her to conclude “But in a stepfamily where everyone is starting a new life together, it isn’t bad advice.”
Icon Crafter
Mayonnaise-This represents how the step-mother did not want to make her step-daughters do things they did not like.
Evil Step-Mother-This picture represents what the step-mother feared.
Latino-Blondes-American-This picture came to my mind because in the story it says how she (the stepmother) looks nothing like her stepdaughters so it is easy to tell that they are not her “real” daughters.
Creative Connector
• Close your eyes for a moment. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “stepmother”?
• Stereotypes of stepmothers:
• Evil or Mean
• Wicked
• Home-wrecker
• Why the Stereotypes?
• In fairy tales, movies and books stepmothers are portrayed negatively.
• Children are exposed to these things at a young age and that image is stuck with them.
• Facts about stepfamilies:
• 15 million stepmothers in the United States.
• 2/3 of divorced or widowed individuals choosing to remarry, causing the number of stepparents to increase rapidly.
• Nearly 40 % of all families today are stepfamilies.
• 1/3 of children are expected to become a stepchild before the age of 18.
• 32% of African-American children are likely to live in stepfamilies.
• Related Story: “Adoption Should be Color-Blind”
• In this story it talks about how children are adopted into families of different cultures.
• Similar to stepfamilies- the new member of the family brings their culture and customs to the family creating some changes.
• Relates to “Hold the Mayonnaise” because Julia was Latin American who married into an American family.
• This caused both the stepmother and the family she married into to adjust to the others culture and customs.
A Parent’s Journey Out of the Closet
During the strange period of American history the 1950s, there was a: twisted and virulently homophobic psychiatrist called Edmund Bergler. : Like Dr Goebbels, Bergler was a master of propaganda, and after an initial: shot or two at writers and other dissidents, he directed his propaganda: primarily at homosexuals. Homosexuals, he kept repeating, were all very: sick people; they were "injustice collectors."
Dr. Edmund Bergler! A pit stop on the march to Promised Land.
His chief claim to fame was his adamant insistence that all homosexuals could be cured (by his therapy, of course) if they only wanted to be.
My parents found out I was gay in 1959. First clue: large package of love letters from a married man. My parents were inveterate snoops, so it's interesting to speculate who was zooming who in this deal. Not only was this paramour a man, he was a Catholic (we were RC's and RC's didn't do those things) and he had three kids. I'm not even sure if my parents
knew what we did in bed since they had a disastrous sex life, and I was conceived by Immaculate Exception.
In any case, they got a referral to a shrink and pleaded that I see him before departing the busom of the family to live as an adultress in New
York's evil Green-witch Village (as my parents called it.) To give myself some peace I went, naively believing that this shrink might actually know something about homosexuality.
Wrong. He was hand-picked disciple of Bergler -- whom I had never heard
of. I got a five minute precis of Bergler's theories. I was really an incredible wimp back then, but also innocent enough that I often saved my own ass with a simple-minded naivete that totally flummoxed other people.
I told him I understood perfectly, and he could be of great help to me and
my parents. As I had no interest whosoever in being cured, clearly the
best thing he could do would be to explain to my parents that I was
incurable and that would solve everything. Lo, these many decades later
I can still see the look on his face. Somehow we had failed to
communicate that I could see, but damned if I knew what went wrong.
I was given a reading list of Bergler's books for my edification and left
his consulting room. As I went over to my parents, my mother eagerly
asked, "Are you better now?"
They had their turn with Dr. Bergler's disciple. When we were driving
home my mother volunteered that he had said that I did not have "a mystical
type of intelligence like most homosexuals." This was a real kick in the
kimono because for years I had gotten the highest marks in Christian
Doctrine in both Catholic parishes in town. So much for following in the
footsteps of Theresa of Avila; evidently I wasn't even to be the 20th
Century's answer to Marjery Kempe.
Once in NYC I discovered that Bergler was about as close to a cult as it gets, and that his reputation was getting to be that of a crank in his profession. He croaked, none too soon, and his wife made it her life's work to carry on his they-can-be-cured crusade. Seems his wife bit the dust not too many years ago still clutching the by now throughly discredited banner of her late husband.
If you have read this far, does anyone remember if Bergler was the guy
whose "movement" was called "Esthetic Realism" (I know that sounds
improbable as the name of a therapy, but it was for real.) There was
homophobic therapy cult that met in the Village in the early, early 60's with that name and methinks it was this crank. He was a real nine-day wonder.
A sad footnote: His one piece of advice to my family was "Never give
even the slightest indication that you accept anything about your son's
homosexuality, fight it all the time." It completely destroyed our
family because they stuck to it, and ultimately the only way to have
peace of mind was to cut them out of my life. Such were the fruits of
Dr. Bergler, one might say.
- Just like the reading the parents wanted to get their child therapy.
- The child did go to therapy to do what his family wanted him to do.
- It turns out that the therapist was pretty close to a cult.
- The difference between the stories is that the Jewish community and Jeff’s family really understood and handle his coming out a whole lot better than Jack’s family.
- I think that with the way that the Jewish family handle things really helped to let Jeff feel more comfortable about coming out to the family and his community.
Romney seeks to force gay marriage vote
Rips lawmakers, eyes bid in SJC
By Scott Allen, Globe Staff | November 20, 2006
Governor Mitt Romney said yesterday that he would ask the Supreme Judicial Court to override the Legislature and let voters decide whether to ban same-sex marriage, telling a boisterous crowd of several thousand at a State House rally that lawmakers are violating the state constitution by refusing to act on the proposal.
Conservative and religious groups gathered a record 170,000 signatures on a petition to put the proposed ban on same-sex marriages on the 2008 ballot, but the measure also requires the support of at least 50 legislators in two consecutive sessions to qualify for a statewide referendum. On Nov. 9, legislators voted 109 to 87 to go into recess rather than vote on the gay marriage ban, all but dooming its chances of appearing on the 2008 ballot.
"The issue before us is not whether same-sex couples should marry. The issue before us today is whether 109 legislators will follow the constitution," declared Romney, promising to send the 109 lawmakers a copy of the constitution and their oath of office to underscore his frustration. "Let us not see the state, which first established constitutional democracy, become the first to abandon it."
A spokesman for Romney said he would file a lawsuit with an SJC justice this week, urging the justice to direct Secretary of State William F. Galvin to place the issue on the state ballot anyway on the grounds that the Legislature is obstructing democracy.
State Police estimated the crowd at about 5,000 people, with gay marriage opponents significantly outnumbering supporters.
- Just as in the Jewish society or anywhere for that matter, it would be very scary for anyone to admit that they were gay.
- Romney is currently trying to get the state to look further in on the vote of same sex marriages. He wants them to let voters decide upon the issue instead of refusing the proposal.
- That is a scary path to go down because if the majority votes then the minority will not really get a chance to even win the vote.
- In society today everyone seems to be concerned with what to do with gay rights or to even give them any at all.
- I personally feel that gays should be able to choose whatever lifestyle that they want because if they are a member of society, pay taxes and work hard like everyone in America then they should be treated like everyone American.
news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Gays_and_Lesbians
http://www.bibble.org/gay/stories/comingout.html
The author was a social worker who was married to a rabbi, Agnes G. Herman. The is not much background that I could find out about her but that she was a very loving and understanding person. The essay helps to explain the parent’s journey finding out about how their son is gay.
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