Saturday, July 19

Give them a chance at least

It appears that in the UK, it is common practice to have children adopted by parents of the same ethnic background and to try and stop children of differing ethnic backgrounds to prospective parents from being allowed to go ahead with the adoption process.
It also seems that the majority of children waiting for adoptive parents are mostly non-Caucasians.
Is this really what this shitty world needs? Non-white children having to wait for non-white parents or vice versa? Idiocy. Ethnicity and an idea of ethnic identity is important, yes. A child from a particular culture should be made aware of their ethnic background, some later than others, but in adoption cases surely the priority is that the children are found a loving family as soon as possible to avoid the horrible circle of foster care and being stuck in 'homes'.
If parents are vetted and want to adopt a child to offer a loving home environment, does it really matter what fucking colour anyone's skin is? Are there not enough problems in this world without perpetuating this kind of myopic bullshit before a kid even has a chance at a family life?
My aunt and uncle adopted two Chinese children years ago and they now both have the lives of young Americans approaching their teen years with an adoring mother and father in a cool little surfing town about an hour from San Fran. They were adopted from a Chinese orphanage when they were very young;one when she was 2, as far as I remember and the other when she was not even a year old. They were found under a bridge and in a field, respectively. Without being adopted they might still be living in a dingy Chinese orphanage where the lives they now have would only ever be seen on television programmes or read in books. Do you think I give a shit what colour the skin of their parents is, or what colour their skin is? Should anyone? I remember them coming to the shops in Galway with me years ago when they were visiting and introducing them to a friend as my little cousins, because thank Christ that is what they are. Things could really have been so different for them. I'm not sure of Irish rules and regulations regarding any of this but I sincerely hope that ethnicity is not a factor for any part of the adoption process.
Hippy as it may sound, love is the only factor that should matter. Racism is a serious problem and life can be difficult enough for a child, but life can be shit for children regardless of race. At least give them a chance of love at home before you start deciding how the rest of their lives will turn out.