The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

More blacks appear to be adopting white children

Number of black parents adopting white children on the rise

Grant Segall

Plain Dealer Reporter

Candace Russell doesn’t mind the color of her new sister’s skin. As long as the baby learns to love hot pink.

Taylor, 1, shares Candace’s vividly painted bedroom in Euclid and enjoys the 9-year-old’s gentle care.

Taylor’s adoptive mother is part of a small – maybe growing – group of blacks who adopt white children.

The group lacks the numbers of white parents adopting black children. But officials chalk up the difference mostly to the outsize numbers of black children available for adoption – about 78 percent of the available children in Cuyahoga County’s custody.

Nationwide, 8 percent of white children in public custody were adopted by black or interracial couples in 2004, the latest year available. About 26 percent of black children were adopted by white parents, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The rates have been much closer in Cuyahoga County the past two years: 14 percent of white children were adopted by black or interracial parents; 17 percent of black children were adopted by white parents.

Historical data is scarce, but those who work in adoptions say more black couples appear to be adopting white children.

“It’s part of globalization and the trends for multiculturalism, and that’s a good thing,” said Karen Anderson, adoption director of Bellefaire JCB in Shaker Heights.

In 1994, a federal law gave preference to same-race matches. But a 1996 amendment banned racial considerations unless they are raised by the parents seeking to adopt.

Adoption workers say black parents seldom ask for white children in general but usually accept them in the particular. And a few white children ask for black parents because of good experiences in foster care or friendships.

A white teenager in Cuyahoga’s custody recently asked for a black family, thinking they would accept her mostly black friends.

The law requires children’s racial preferences to be evaluated to see if they meet valid personal needs. The Cuyahoga teen’s preference passed the test.

Adoption workers say some parents of either race prefer black children to help meet the greater need. Few black parents prefer white children, but many get them through foster placements, often emergency ones, which are made more randomly than adoptions. Some of these pairings bloom.

“Chris and I just made a connection,” said Shirley Hinton, a black Euclid resident who adopted a white 8-year-old boy.

Chris made her feel needed.

“He was so timid,” Hinton said. “You had to help him protect himself, talking to him, trying to reassure him.”

Chris, now 11, felt the connection, too.

“She said she wouldn’t tell anybody anything I didn’t want her to, and she hasn’t, so I trust her,” he said. (more…)

If you love them and are willing to take care of them, what difference is it going to make in the long run? Fine by me.