Birthmarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America

by Sandra Patton-Imani

Overview

"[An] empathetic study of the meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees."—Law and Politics Book Review

Can White parents teach their Black children African American culture and history? Can they impart to them the survival skills necessary to survive in the racially stratified United States? Concerns over racial identity have been at the center of controversies over transracial adoption since the 1970s, as questions continually arise about whether White parents are capable of instilling a positive sense of African American identity in their Black children.

Through in-depth interviews with adult transracial adoptees, as well as with social workers in adoption agencies, Sandra Patton, herself an adoptee, explores the social construction of race, identity, gender, and family and the ways in which these interact with public policy about adoption. Patton offers a compelling overview of the issues at stake in transracial adoption. She discusses recent changes in adoption and social welfare policy which prohibit consideration of race in the placement of children, as well as public policy definitions of "bad mothers" which can foster coerced aspects of adoption, to show how the lives of transracial adoptees have been shaped by the policies of the U.S. child welfare system.

Neither an argument for nor against the practice of transracial adoption, BirthMarks seeks to counter the dominant public view of this practice as a panacea to the so-called "epidemic" of illegitimacy and the misfortune of infertility among the middle class with a more nuanced view that gives voice to those directly involved, shedding light on the ways in which Black and multiracial adoptees articulate their own identity experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814768136
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	236
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Sandra Patton-Imani is Professor of American Studies at Drake University, where she teaches Anthropology, Sociology, and Women’s Studies. She is a former postdoctoral fellow at the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from University of Maryland, College Park in American Studies with a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies. She earned a B.A. in Radio/TV/ Film and American Studies at California State University, Fullerton. She is the author of BirthMarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America, New York University Press 2000, as well as numerous scholarly articles on adoption, race, gender, and family.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[An] empathetic study of meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees."

-Law and Politics Book Review,Vol. 11, No. 11, Nov. 2001

"This superb study of transracial adoption in the United States addresses profoundly vexing and divisive questions about the social, biological, cultural, and political meanings of identity. Displaying a rare blend of sociological wisdom, empathy, and eloquence, BirthMarks demonstrates how and why there can be no such thing as color-blind families or adoption policies so long as the color line remains an intractable American dilemma. Anyone who cares about the changing contours of families and race today should eagerly adopt this marvelous book."

-Judith Stacey,author of In the Name of the Family

"A compelling mixture of voices and social analysis . . . required reading for anyone seriously interested in adoption and families in a multiracial world."

-Maxine Baca Zinn,Michigan State University

"BirthMarks clarifies the complexities of transracial adoption, but it does much more than this. Sandra Patton's detailed and sensitive research helps us understand the depths of racial identity itself. The lesson here is that racial identity is not something given, but something achieved. This resonates not just for the adoptees Patton studies, but for us all. It suggests immense possibilities for resisting racism. Transcending the simplistic 'pro vs. con' debate about transracial adoption, Patton strives to present racial formation as a highly nuanced process of becoming oneself."

-Howard Winant,Temple University

Editorial Reviews

[An] empathetic study of meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees.

Law and Politic Book Review

"This superb study of transracial adoption in the United States addresses profoundly vexing and divisive questions about the social, biological, cultural, and political meanings of identity. Displaying a rare blend of sociological wisdom, empathy, and eloquence, BirthMarks demonstrates how and why there can be no such thing as color-blind families or adoption policies so long as the color line remains an intractable American dilemma. Anyone who cares about the changing contours of families and race today should eagerly adopt this marvelous book."

Judith Stacey

"[An] empathetic study of meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees."

Law and Politics Book Review

"BirthMarks clarifies the complexities of transracial adoption, but it does much more than this. Sandra Patton's detailed and sensitive research helps us understand the depths of racial identity itself. The lesson here is that racial identity is not something given, but something achieved. This resonates not just for the adoptees Patton studies, but for us all. It suggests immense possibilities for resisting racism. Transcending the simplistic ‘pro vs. con' debate about transracial adoption, Patton strives to present racial formation as a highly nuanced process of becoming oneself."

Howard Winant

"A compelling mixture of voices and social analysis . . . required reading for anyone seriously interested in adoption and families in a multiracial world."

Maxine Baca Zinn

"BirthMarks clarifies the complexities of transracial adoption, but it does much more than this. Sandra Patton's detailed and sensitive research helps us understand the depths of racial identity itself. The lesson here is that racial identity is not something given, but something achieved. This resonates not just for the adoptees Patton studies, but for us all. It suggests immense possibilities for resisting racism. Transcending the simplistic ‘pro vs. con' debate about transracial adoption, Patton strives to present racial formation as a highly nuanced process of becoming oneself."

-Howard Winant,Temple University

"This superb study of transracial adoption in the United States addresses profoundly vexing and divisive questions about the social, biological, cultural, and political meanings of identity. Displaying a rare blend of sociological wisdom, empathy, and eloquence, BirthMarks demonstrates how and why there can be no such thing as color-blind families or adoption policies so long as the color line remains an intractable American dilemma. Anyone who cares about the changing contours of families and race today should eagerly adopt this marvelous book."

-Judith Stacey,author of In the Name of the Family

"A compelling mixture of voices and social analysis . . . required reading for anyone seriously interested in adoption and families in a multiracial world."

-Maxine Baca Zinn,Michigan State University

"[An] empathetic study of meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees."

-Law and Politics Book Review,Vol. 11, No. 11, Nov. 2001

From the Publisher