Mary Owlhaven writes an incredible blog on Ethiopian adoption and transracial adoption in general. She wrote a great post about raising her Ethiopian girls in a predominately white area. Below is an insightful response from a white woman living in a predominately black area..
And while it may be a touch awkward at first, one of the main things I have learned from living in such a diverse place is that conversations on race are necessary and often not as painful as we might expect. I think that sometimes when we don't know what to do or say about race, we try to ignore it. But you and every one around you can see with plain eyes that you are white parents raising black children and I think most people "get" that there are unique issues that might arise as a result. And I don't know how to say this without it possibly being misconstrued, so here goes: I think black folks probably "get" those issues even more because as white folks, we probably haven't thought about our race or racism nearly as much as black folks have, simply because we have always been the racial majority and have generally not been discriminated against based on race. I personally never thought about my "whiteness" until I lived in a place where I was the minority. Continue Reading
I echo what she says about black people "getting it". I think that in general we focus less on whiteness of the parent and more on the needs of the child. I can't speak for everyone but those who have had experiences like me and know some of the challenges that the child might face welcome the opportunity to talk openly about the issues and offer encouragement where we can.
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