One Race

Our foster classes discussed trans racial adoption and how we would acclimate a child of a different race of ours. I struggled a bit with this because I firmly believe there is one race, our ancestors all came off the ark.  Yes we look different and society treats us very differently.   Our class trainer asked "how will you raise your child to embrace their race?"  I was at a loss.  I am not naive enough to not think the child would not notice they look different.  But on the other hand we had neighbors that "looked differently" and we played together daily and my kids thought they were all cousins.  So I just figured we aren't racist so it shouldn't be a problem.  But I didn't really know how to help them embrace their race.

When I was adopted, it was the practice back then to match up the children with parents that looked the closest to them.  So there was no embracing I needed to do, I guess.  No experience of my own to draw upon.  My friend has a child that has a Japanese heritage so every year on his birthday  they go out to a Japanese resturant.

The advice of my trainer was to take them around more people that look like them and also other cultures so everyone looks different.  We homeschool and I did a similar thing with my children, getting around more homeschoolers so they wouldn't feel so different.  It had a great result. Also homeschooling has given me the ability to teach history from a Hebrew prospective.  We learn history in chronological order over four years.  But I explain to my children, we are not Jewish but because of what Jesus did on the cross we were adopted into God's Family and Jesus was Jewish.  So our forefathers are the Jews.  Couldn't we just adopt them and have them embrace our heritage?  I have one blonde daughter in a sea of dark headed children.  We always point it out as her uniqueness in our family and she loves it.  Couldn't it be the same?

My children won't have a problem with a sibling of another race, but what about everyone else?  Not just the relatives, neighbors but what about the passers by every day who already make comments to me.  I kid you not, if I had a dollar for every time a stranger said to me "Wow, you got your hands full!"  or "Don't you know  how to prevent that" speaking of my many little blessings.  "Are these all yours?" Or there is always, "Why aren't they in school?" So I do foresee the comments and questions about the different looking one in the bunch.

In fact, I have heard stories of friends who have had complete strangers make snide comments about the little child in their grocery cart.  Now, I am a big girl, I can handle it. They are ignorant.  But how will my children feel when their sibling is being criticized on a daily basis, not to mention the wounded little one we are trying to heal?  I do always take the opportunities that I am encountering daily to lift up my children and say "yes, they are all mine and isn't it great?" or "I am blessed!"  Maybe with the new opportunities if we have a trans racial adoption I will use them to educate people.  Need to think about that.