Raising Kaite: What Adopting a White Girl Taught One Black Family - Newsweek.com
As a black father and adopted white daughter, Mark Riding and Katie O’Dea-Smith are a sight at best surprising, and at worst so perplexing that people feel compelled to respond. Like the time at a Pocono Mountains flea market when Riding scolded Katie, attracting so many sharp glares that he and his wife, Terri, 37, and also African-American, thought “we might be lynched.” And the time when well-intentioned shoppers followed Mark and Katie out of the mall to make sure she wasn’t being kidnapped. Or when would-be heroes come up to Katie in the cereal aisle and ask, “Are you OK?”—even though Terri is standing right there.
This is an eye opening article. As a white man I feel like it’s difficult for me to interject meaningful dialog into this conversation. This excerpt was particularly troubling:
At present, agencies that receive public funding are forbidden from taking race into account when screening potential parents. They are also banned from asking parents to reflect on their readiness to deal with race-related issues, or from requiring them to undergo sensitivity training.
That seems to me analogous to teaching abstinence as a response to teen pregnancy. All this political correctness prevents us from having an honest dialog about race and culture. But what do I know? The honest truth is, not a whole lot.
