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Duke Law > Duke Law Scholarship Repository > Journals > DJGLP > Vol. 2 > No. 1 (1995)

 

Abstract

I. Introduction Transracial adoption is a sensitive topic, evoking acrimonious debate "between those who view transracial placements as positive for both the children and society as a whole and those who view them as injurious to Black children and Black communities." 1 Efforts to declare race-matching preference policies or statutory schemes unconstitutional are intensifying. 2 Some legal writers assert that such a prohibition is needed in order to avoid or minimize harm to Black 3 youngsters in the foster care system. 4 In a re cent law review article analyzing the same-race statutory preference schemes of three states, the commentator concluded that "a child affected by the question of trans-racial adoption is potentially trapped in the middle of dangerous political and legal crossroads." 5 Race and color continue to be unresolved issues in our society--inextricably tied and merged with issues of power, status, and inequality--that mock American claims of being a democratic land of equal opportunity. 6 Race and color profoundly influence the lives of all within our society, governing the choices one makes and the choices one believes she has. 7 Issues of race and poverty in American society directly contribute to the disproportionate numbers 8 of Black children remaining in the foster care sys tem for longer periods of time than other children, 9 due to a shortage of approved Black adoptive homes. 10 I believe that race cannot be ignored. 11 The key to successful living as a minority person in a discriminating, denigrating society is to ...

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