Patton,
Sandra. Birthmarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America. NY: New York University Press, 2000 191
pages.
At the time she wrote
this book, Patton was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at the
University of Minnesota. Patton relates
to adoptees and adoption overall since she is a white American adoptee who was
raised by white parents.
Patton
becomes an ethnographer and uses stories from interviews she conducted to
explore questions around the social construction of authentic identity through
race, gender, class, and the ideological stereotypes in today’s society. Transracial adoptees would benefit the most
from this book; however, the audience she tries to captivate is the general
population or anyone with an interest in transracial adoption. Readers should know that the book focuses
more on racial identity than the adjustment of adoptees.
Rating: 1)
I would recommend this book for an academic audience and for anyone interested
in adoption or identity and race.
Sandra Patton writes her book through a series
of interviews and stories told by African American and multiracial adults who
were adopted and raised by white families.
She conducted 22 interviews with transracial adoptees to help define the
“social construction of identity, and the connections between identity, race,
gender, class, and public policy” (Patton, pg. 2) in regards to adoption. In her book, Patton argues that the
identities of transracial adoptees are constructed by public policies
concerning race, family, gender, poverty, and child welfare. In her opening chapter “Origin Narratives”,
Patton sheds light on the adoption process and how people of color are
prohibited from adopting children. She
looks into adoption agencies and discusses the institutional racism that
existed in the 1950s, and today. Though
she highlights how public policy has changed in the adoption process, there
still exists the overwhelming want for “blue ribbon babies”; white children. Patton also argues that public policy shapes
who we are and how we, as Americans, are supposed to live our lives.
Patton
does a wonderful job at pointing out the flaws within the adoption agency and
how they limit people of color from adopting.
In the 1950s, few black couples met the policy requirements for adoption
eligibility. These requirements
included, economic stability, home ownership (which would need to include a
separate room for a child), and a full time wife and mother. Since people of color faced discrimination in
the job market, it was hard for them to get higher paying jobs, thus their
wives would need to join the workforce to help with the family income.
Patton uses familiar
texts throughout her book, citing credible sources that we have discussed in
class; National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) and Rickie
Solinger. She also gives a critical
analysis to the movie Losing Isaiah,
and speaks of the dramatization of the film.
Through these texts, she confirms and supports our understanding of
adoption in regards to ethics. She
places specific attention on the ideology that the media has shaped about family
and the pressures to conform to the “white” middle class status. Through her use of texts, she describes that
the ideal American family is white, middle class, and lives in “Whitesville”. With that being said, Patton explores a new
topic of illegitimacy. She writes on the
message of “what it means to be a mother” and how social culture has defined
that term.
Brandon Kasper
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGraded Response
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I noticed in your book review that I found interesting was how much information, just in a shortened book review, you talked about that related specifically to something we talked about in class. I am sure that as the semester goes on, we will get more into some of the race-based discussions which will obviously relate, but even so there is much material that we have already covered. For instance, you discuss institutional racism that was and is present within the adoption agencies, which is pretty much implicit bias by another name. What I also found interesting is that Patton used works from the National Association of Black Social Workers as well as Rickie Solinger. This leads me to believe that they are likely good sources to consult about their position. The fact that Patton even referenced Losing Isaiah was interesting to me, though I could see certainly what she was concerned with about that movie and its portrayal of race.
The part of your book review that I was most intrigued by was the discussion about the flaws inherent to the adoption agencies as well as the systematic denial of colored parents from adopting. I find it interesting that the criteria that they base these assessments off of all seem reasonable enough; no one would condemn the institutions for looking into economic stability, homeownership, as well as the ability to have a stay-at-home mom (at least given the time period, on this last charge). On first glance, there really is not a sense of intentioned or directed prejudice. In fact, one could argue that this sounds like looking out for the child’s best interests. However, I certainly understand the point that is being made about how unilaterally this affects people of color, and how thereby they are denied the opportunity to adopt children. I find that this whole mess relates back to the core problem of white privilege.
This discussion leaves me with one question in particular, which I believe may be answered in the remaining portion of the semester. First off, in regards to the system of adoptive parent screening that was discussed above, I wonder how much has really changed since the 1950s. I would like to believe that great strides have been made to negate this racial inequality; however, I have a hard time believing this to be the case. In passing, it was brought up in our class that adoptive agencies criteria are more or less based off of what would make a good home for a middle class white family. This speaks directly to what you stated about trying to fit this mold. I am looking forward to learning more about this topic in the coming weeks.
Thanks for sharing about your book. It sounds really interesting.
Graded Book Review Reply #2
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I noticed and thought was interesting was the author of your book is a white adoptee raised by white parents but she is writing on transracial adoption. I just thought that was an interesting idea to point out. I wonder if this brought an interesting contrast between her upbringing and a transracial adoptees upbringing. I can imagine that there was some compare and contrast between the 22 interviewees and the author, which I think is a good thing.
Another point you brought up was how Patton highlighted people of color being prohibited from adopting children. I think that it is sad there were laws like this against people of color. I think it would be interesting to read your book and see if there still are laws or policies that make it difficult for people of color to adopt. If they can have their children adopted, than they should be able to adopt.
Lastly, I liked that you listed a few of the flaws in the adoption agencies that limited people of color from adopting, although these flaws also stopped some white people from adopting. First off, I wonder if adoption agencies were purposely trying to limit people from adoption or did they simply think a family had to have the requirements you listed to successfully raise a child. I think it would be responsible of a perspective adoptive couple to be economically stable, have a home, and caregiver. However, depending on the age of the child being adopted, they do not need their own room. For example, an infant does not need a room to themselves. Also, if both parents work, it should be acceptable for them to adopt and have a reliable childcare location ready for them once they have adopted.
Jen G.
Book Review Reply #2
ReplyDeleteBrandon, very concise review! My book was similar to this one, it was the story of a transracial adoptee. In fact it was the first black child adopted by two white parents. His story was very interesting to me but one of the 'weaknesses' in the book was that his life was unfolding during a time when racial differences were blatantly criticized and pointed out, making his childhood extremely difficult. It would be interesting to read Patton's book because she discusses more than one point of view of these transracial adoptees.
I was drawn in when you began relaying how Patton shows that black families wanting to adopt were discriminated against because of the system. Times have changed since the 50s and I would like to believe that because of the purposeful elimination of public discrimination, Black families would be more able to participate in the adoption process as adoptive parents. However, after having an understanding of 'silent racism' there is potential for a continuation of the unequal trend. Especially if white social workers are not understanding their inherent biases.
One more thought I had was the idea of 'blue ribbon babies' and how I view that as wrong seeing as how all children deserve a loving home regardless of their ethnicity. However, after reading about the experience of an older transracial adoptee, I wonder how many of the white families adopting transracially consider the implications that could affect the child later in life. I think that in the recent decades it's become easier to adopt transracially as there is better and more available information on how to raise a child with a different ethnicity than the parents.
I hope that as time passes, we will continue to make positive strides in the adoption world and with racial inequities. I think your book would be a great one to read in terms of learning how to keep from perpetuating the negatives in relationship to those two things.
Book Review #2
ReplyDeleteI think adoption policy is a topic that is not well covered in our class. Brandon, you included a very succinct overview of the problems that were highlighted in your book for us to understand why there are so many children that are being adopted transracially. You mentioned that in the 1950s there were strict requirements for black couples to be eligible to adopt. Do these requirements still exist? Although I don’t think that there is true employment equality in our society, I would hope to think that there is less of a gap between the income levels of blacks and whites. I would also like to think that there are not different criteria for colored people in the adoption process. Did the author include anything from the 1990s about the adoption process and the possible injustices that still exist?
From this post it seems like Sandra Patton has strong opinions about transracial adoption being unethical for many reasons. Do you think that there are transracial adoptions that are ethical? Perhaps there are just more black and biracial children that are available for adoption? Maybe there are white couples and individuals who do have the children’s best interest in mind and are not trying to contribute to “Whitesville.” Although there are problems with the adoption process, this seems like an incomplete picture of transracial adoption.
I was interested in reading your post about transracial adoption because I read a book called In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories that was formatted in a similar way. That is a collection of interviews of transracial adoptees tell their experience, which many addressed race, family and gender, but little about the conditions and lifestyle that they were removed from when they were adopted. Your book focuses much more on the underlying policy issues that contribute to the number of transracial adoptions. Although I’m not advocating against transracial adoption, if we were to decrease the number of these adoptions, there needs to be changes to policies and flaws within adoption agencies to allow for more colored people to adopt.
- Sheila