As a white mother to black children, I’m not at liberty to blithely move without question through our racialized world. Nor can I ignore the impact of white privilege on my family and how I raise my kids.
While a white parent may be able to feel grief or feel brokenhearted about incidents that cause racial trauma, the difference is that they do not feel vulnerable or targeted. Being able to honestly acknowledge that you, as a parent, cannot understand the incident in the same way, while also showing compassion, will encourage children and teens to openly discuss these incidents when they do occur.
The parents may feel that the adoption was a success because they loved the child, the child has appeared to do well in life, and the family has never faced significant issues related to the racial or cultural challenge.
