The Transracial Bill of Rights for Adopted Kids

The other day when I was shopping at Sam's Club with Charlie, I saw a black man with a white toddler in his cart. We locked eyes and I started cracking up. We were the photo negative of each other. We said "hi". I asked if he got a lot of stares. He laughed and said he did sometimes but it doesn't bother him. We talked a little while about the whole trans racial "surprise" people seem to get at times and then said goodbye.

So when I saw this, I wanted to post it. Blatently stolen from Elizabeth's website
(which I'm reading from cover to cover and suggest you do too..)

I was sent this yesterday by a friend and I found it so profound. It’s everything I have been working towards but have not yet put into words. This should be required reading and believing for all adoptive families.

Copy it, print it off, link to this post, please just pass it along.

A Transracially-Adopted Child’s Bill of Rights Adapted by Liza Steinberg Triggs from “A Bill of Rights for Mixed Folks,” by Marilyn Dramé

Every child is entitled to:

Love and full membership in her family.

Have his culture embraced and valued.

Parents who know that this is a race conscious society.

Parents who know that she will experience life differently than they do.

Parents who are not looking to “save” him or to improve the world.

Parents who know that being in a family doesn’t depend on “matching.”

Parents who know that trans racial adoption changes the family forever.

Be accepted by extended family members.

Parents who know that, if they are white, they benefit from racism.

Parents who know that they can’t transmit the child’s birth culture if it is not their own.

Have items at home that are made for and by people of his race.

Opportunities to make friends with people of her race or ethnicity.

Daily opportunities of positive experiences with his birth culture.

Build racial pride within her own home, school, and neighborhood.

Have many opportunities to connect with adults of the child’s race.

Parents who accept, understand and empathize with her culture.

Learn survival, problem-solving, and coping skills in a context of racial pride.

Take pride in the development of a dual identity and a multicultural/multiracial perspective on life.

Find his multiculturalism to be an asset and to conclude, “I’ve got the best of both worlds.”