Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Different races, different reactions

As many of you know, I have daughter who was born in China, so my personal experience has been raising a daughter who is of Chinese culture.  I have been taking care of a little boy--13 months old who is Moroccan.  He has beautiful dark brown eyes and curly brown hair and is of medium complexion.  I have been noticing that when I am walking with him, I have been getting noticed by many people who are African American and who acknowledge him (and me.)  I have been told by mothers who are raising African American children that in that culture/race, it is common to acknowledge each other on the street.  As well, this baby and his family live near the Filmore district.  At first I thought it was just because he is cute.  But yesterday I was walking by a younger group of African American girls--teens??  And one of them said "Is that a sister?"  It took me a second to realize she was talking to me (as I was pushing him up hill in a stroller) and my response was that he was a boy, but his eye lashes were so long that it was hard to tell.  She smiled at me and said how cute he was and what beautiful eyes he had and the other girls around him smiled and talked to him.  Along that same street, I had an African American store keeper stop me and give me a balloon to put on his stroller.

Often when I am talking to couples about adopting transracially I talk about the differences and the challenges that occur.  But these last few weeks and these experiences remind me of the wonderfulness of adopting transracially---the invitation into another race and/or culture that as a Caucasian woman I would not normally have access to.  It also reinforces the openness and love that babies bring in the world and that can happen between all races. 

I think at times, we get caught up in how "hard" it is and how much responsibility we have--and don't get me wrong, it is the responsibility of us as parents.  But, please remember how wonderful it is as well.  I would not have had these experiences and shows of love if I had been walking with a child of the same race.

No comments:

Post a Comment