How White Transracially Adoptive Parents Navigate Race

SREXXX10.1177/2332649216671954Sociology of Race and EthnicityGoar et al. research-article6719542016

Expressions of Racial Identity

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2017, Vol. 3(3) 338–354 Discursive Entwinement: © American Sociological Association 2016 DOI: 10.1177/2332649216671954 How White Transracially sre.sagepub.com Adoptive Parents Navigate Race

Carla Goar1, Jenny L. Davis2, and Bianca Manago3

Abstract Through 47 interviews with 56 White parents who attend culture camps, the authors analyze race discourse and practices in transracially adoptive families. The authors document parents’ use of two discursive frames, colorblindness and race consciousness, and find that small subsamples of parents use either race consciousness or colorblindness exclusively, while the majority (66 percent) entwine the two discursive frames together. Because the sample is drawn from culture camps, which emphasize race and ethnicity, this sample begins with some degree of racial attunement. As such, the continued presence of colorblindness among the sample indicates the deep rootedness of White hegemonic logic. However, the emergence of race consciousness indicates the potential for White transracially adoptive families to engage race critically. Moreover, the analyses draw a clear line between how parents articulate racial understandings in their interviews and the ways parents report talking about race and racism with their children. These findings are directly relevant to ongoing debates about the ethics of transracial adoption and racial identity development among transracial adoptees. More generally, these findings speak to the ways Whites’ racial understandings are constrained, but not determined, by a history and biography of privilege.

Keywords discourse, parents, family, race, Transracial Adoption

In this article, we examine how White parents who race consciousness would support the potential for adopt children of color understand race and ethnic- Whites to engage with race critically, especially in ity. Specifically, we interview parents who attend the context of multiracial families. “culture camps” and identify patterns of color- As primary agents of socialization, families blindness and race consciousness in their discourse. play a fundamental role in teaching children about Culture camps are designed for families with tran- race. Racial socialization takes on particular sig- sracially adopted children to meet one another and nificance when one’s race acts as a social marker of learn about their children’s birth cultures. Because difference and devaluation (Howarth 2006). In the camps are structured around racial and ethnic themes, parents’ camp attendance itself suggests a 1Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA degree of distance from the colorblind ideology 2The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia that permeates White American discourse more 3Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA generally (Foster 2015). Within a population of Corresponding Author: camp attendees, the continued presence of color- Carla Goar, Kent State University, Department of blindness would demonstrate the staying power of Sociology, 305 Merrill Hall, Kent, OH 44242, USA White hegemonic logic, while the emergence of Email: [email protected] Goar et al. 339 contemporary United States, race and ethnicity within transracially adoptive families. We asked shape life circumstances at personal, interpersonal, White transracially adoptive parents who attend and institutional levels in ways that both assume culture camps to define race and to recall the ways and privilege Whiteness. Minority families in the their families have encountered race and racism, United States face challenges from which Whites and we asked about the ways they themselves, and are generally protected (i.e., social exclusion, rac- their children, talk about race with one another. ism, maltreatment from authorities). Families of With these data we answer the question, How do color may teach their children adaptive strategies families who attend culture camps do race in tran- that facilitate resilience, safety, and advancement sracially adoptive homes? in the face of structural disadvantage (Hughes et al. Through 47 interviews with 56 parents, our find- 2006). ings show that a small but substantial subsample of Often, racial status is shared among family parents rely exclusively on one discursive frame or members. When race is shared, parents can draw on the other (colorblindness or race consciousness), their own histories and biographies as they guide while the majority discursively entwine colorblind their children and help them form a sense of self. In and race-conscious frames into their narratives. We contrast, socialization processes are complicated further demonstrate a clear line between how par- when children and parents occupy different racial ents articulate racial understandings in their inter- categories, as is the case with transracial adoptions. views and how they report talking about race with Specifically, when White parents adopt children of their kids and as a family—those who use race- color, it adds a layer of difficulty to racial socializa- conscious discourses give race a more prominent tion. This racial configuration—White parents and place in family life, while those who rely on color- children of color—represents the vast majority of blind discourses report sparse conversations about transracially adoptive families (Evan B. Donaldson race with their children and allude to adoptees’ Institute 2008; Vandivere et al. 2009). struggles with racial and ethnic identity. These find- White transracially adoptive parents, though ings speak directly to debates about the ethics of intimately connected to and responsible for chil- transracial adoption and in particular racial and eth- dren of color, bring with them a history of racial nic identity development among transracial adop- privilege. Such privilege may be rooted in “White tees. Furthermore, they illuminate important habitus,” a racialized social process born of both patterns in interracial relations more generally, residential and psychological segregation that demonstrating the strength of colorblindness as a “conditions and creates whites’ racial tastes, per- cultural trope, the conditions for an emergent race ceptions, feelings and emotions, and their views on consciousness, and the relationship between discur- racial matters” (Bonilla-Silva 2003:104). White sive framing and behavioral practice. habitus maximizes in-group interactions while minimizing experiences with people of color, leaving White individuals naive to the lived realities of Transracial Adoption minority populations and reliant upon stereotypes The practice of transracial adoption remains con- and other generalizations for racial information troversial in the United States. Opponents question (Bonilla-Silva, Goar, and Embrick 2006). In this White parents’ capacity to provide the social, cul- way, White parents may face significant challenges tural, and life-skills resources necessary for the as they socialize transracial adoptees. healthy development of children of color (Johnson, True to the effects of white habitus, research on Mickelson, and Davila 2013), arguing that White transracial adoption shows trends in which White adults are ill equipped to transmit rich cultural his- parents minimize racial differences within the fam- tories or prepare adoptees for a racist social system ily and ignore the place of race in adoptees’ lives (Kennedy 2003). These critiques underlie the (Quiroz 2007). However, by drawing a sample from oppositional stance to transracial adoption histori- parents who attend culture camps—spaces in which cally taken by the National Association of Black race and ethnicity are central—we expect race con- Social Workers and the National Indian Child sciousness to emerge more prominently than it Welfare Association (McRoy 1989; Simon and would among transracially adoptive parents overall. Alstein 2000). Alternatively, proponents of tran- Rather than survey the state of racial discourse sracial adoption point to evidence that transra- among all transracially adoptive parents, our study cially adopted children can and do thrive within explores the potential for race consciousness and, mixed race families (Smith, Jacobson, and Juarez alternatively, the persistence of colorblindness 2011). 340 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

Empirical research shows that transracially and tracing these discursive practices into racial adopted children fare equally as well as their peers dynamics within the home. We discern the degree who receive same-race placement on a number of to which those who attend camps follow in the col- parameters, such as education, connection to fam- orblind patterns of White habitus or instead take on ily, self-esteem and psychological well-being uncomfortable racial realities despite their own (Alexander and Curtis 1996; Bagley 1993; Bartholet embodied privilege. 1999; Dorow 2006; Grow and Shapiro 1974; Ladner 1977; Lee 2003; McRoy and Zurcher 1983; Quiroz 2007; Shireman and Johnson 1986; Simon Race Discourse: and Alstein 2000, 2002; Smith et al. 2011; Swize Colorblindness versus 2002). However, research also consistently shows that transracial adoptees struggle with racial and Race Consciousness ethnic identity in ways that their nonadopted and Explicit “isms” are strictly censured in the contem- same-race adopted peers do not (DeBerry, Scarr, porary era of political correctness and multicultural- and Weinberg 1996; Feigelman 2000; Hollingsworth ism (Bonilla-Silva 2001, 2003). In turn, overt acts of 1997). hatred and discrimination have been largely sup- Transracial adoptees’ documented struggle with planted by subtler microaggressions and discrimina- racial identity may be partially explained by White tory policy decisions (Rabinowitz et al. 2009). Within parents’ discursive patterns and the connection this political context, colorblind discourse has between these patterns and the home environment emerged as a socially acceptable racial framework. that adoptive parents cultivate. Variations in how Colorblind ideologies dominate popular media dis- White parents treat race can create vastly different course (Squires 2014) and guide patterns of talk in conditions for children of color growing up in a the everyday lives of White Americans (Foster White family (Goar 2014; Samuels 2009; Smith 2015). et al. 2011). However, the majority of transracial Adherents to colorblind logic seamlessly ignore adoption research begins and ends with adoptees’ race and/or actively worry that paying attention to outcomes, giving less attention to the effects of race reinforces racial divides and ultimately stig- family dynamics in identity development processes matizes racial and ethnic minority groups (Guiner (Grow and Shapiro 1974; Simon and Alstein 2002). and Torres 2002:3). In turn, colorblindness protects Among adoptees in general, open communica- Whites from confronting their role in maintaining tion about the conditions of adoption has proved race-based inequities, providing a “space free of beneficial for psychological development guilt, self-reflection, and political responsibility” (Brodzinsky 2006; Grotevant et al. 2011). For tran- (Giroux 2006:77). The effects of colorblind logic sracial adoptees, the place of race and ethnicity reverberate through individuals and institutions by both in the family and in the children themselves is promoting false assumptions of meritocracy in thus an important topic to address (Hamilton et al. which social position is unaffected by race and rac- 2015). However, researchers have documented a ism (Bonilla-Silva 2001, 2003; Bonilla-Silva and pattern among White transracially adoptive parents Forman 2000; Lewis 2003). For example, when of minimizing their children’s racial and ethnic students of color face racial hostility, teachers and backgrounds (Lee et al. 2006; Johnston et al. 2007; administrators often “deracialize” the incidents, Quiroz 2007; Reinoso, Juffer, and Tieman 2013), attribute blame equally across parties, and accuse and both Black and Mexican transracial adoptees students of color of “making a big deal out of noth- report little communication about race within their ing” (Lewis 2003:22). Similarly, at work, White homes (Hamilton et al. 2015). men and women are more likely to attribute their Parents who attend culture camps have already own career successes to qualifications and skills, taken one step to address their children’s race and while crediting the career successes of their col- the racial configuration of their families, thereby leagues of color to personal contacts and social net- setting these parents apart as potentially more works (DiTomaso, Parks-Yancy, and Post 2003). racially conscientious compared with the general By defining racial categorization as irrelevant or population. We build on past research by examin- even insidious, colorblindness attributes racial dis- ing the racial ideas and practices of White transra- parities to personal skill and effort rather than sys- cially adoptive parents who attend culture camps, temic patterns of resource distribution and denial. identifying instances of both colorblindness and In contrast to colorblind racism, race conscious- race consciousness in their narratives and accounts ness acknowledges that race permeates personal Goar et al. 341 and public life and does so in ways that privilege differ in size, structure, and cost, all generally view Whiteness. The project of race consciousness is their role as helping participants establish connec- one of resistance to White hegemonic social struc- tions between birth and adopted cultures and pro- tures. Race consciousness contains four compo- moting the transracial adoption community nents: race identification, power discontent, system (Delale-O’Conner 2011; Song 2004). Between blame, and collective action orientation (Appiah 2007 and 2010, the first author and a research assis- and Gutmann 1996). Race identification refers to tant conducted 47 interviews with 56 White, tran- recognizing the politics and cultural meanings tied sracially adoptive parents at six culture camps in to one’s racial group. Power discontent is an open the midwestern and western United States. The awareness of past and present inequities. System author recruited parents from camps she attended blame is the attribution of past and present inequi- as both a researcher and a volunteer. ties to a racist system instead of personal shortcom- The first camp, Mountain Air Camp (MAC),1 is ings. Collective action orientation is the a weeklong program located in an exclusive resort commitment to mobilization combating the poli- area. Families have access to cabins and lodges and, cies and practices of a racist system (Gurin 1985; in addition to programming, are able to participate Simien and Clawson 2004). in activities such as hiking, canoeing, and horse- As discursive frames, colorblindness and race back riding. The cost of MAC includes a $75 family consciousness sit in stark opposition. Whereas the facilitation fee and $130 per family member, which former perpetuates a racist system, the latter fights covers camp programming. Meals and lodging are against it. The implications of racial discourse are separate fees. In operation for more than 25 years, both personal and structural, with colorblind logics MAC caters to families with adopted children perpetuating microaggressions and policies of between the ages of 3 and 17 and sponsors multiple exclusion, and race-conscious ideologies highlight- culture camps each summer, including Afro- ing patterns of privilege and dismantling racialized Caribbean, Cambodian, Chinese, Indian-Nepalese, social structures. Certainly, the ways that White Filipino, Korean, Latin American, Russian–Eastern adoptive parents think and talk about race shape European–Central Asian, and Vietnamese camps. experiences of home and identity for children of For this study, observations and interviews took color. Among transracially adoptive parents place with parents who attended the Afro-Caribbean (Quiroz 2007), like White Americans in general (2007 and 2010), Cambodian (2010), and Russian– (Foster 2015), colorblindness is decidedly preva- Eastern European–Central Asian (2010) camps. lent. We examine if these patterns persist among The second camp, One World Camp (OWC), is parents who attend culture camps and map discur- a weeklong day camp that focuses solely on chil- sive patterns onto the kind of racial environments dren’s programming. It is housed in a large, sub- parents cultivate in the home. urban church in the Midwest, and most of the participants reside in that area. The cost of the Methods camp is $215 per child and includes meals, program materials, and t-shirts. Camp participants Research Sites are introduced to cultural elements of their birth- Culture camps began in the 1980s, providing infor- places, including folklore, architecture, and mation, support, and community to Korean adop- dance. The camp has been in operation for more tive families in the Midwest (Delale-O’Connor than 25 years and caters to adoptees and siblings 2011). Since then, dozens of camps focusing on between the ages of 5 and 17. OWC offers simul- U.S. adoption–friendly countries have been estab- taneous camps, including African American, lished. Camps provide safe spaces for adoptive Chinese, Eastern European, Indian, Korean, Latin families, offering settings in which multiracial American, Filipino, and Southeast Asian camps. families are not racially conspicuous and creating For this study, observations and interviews took connections to adoptees’ birth cultures through art, place with parents whose children attended the music, traditions, language, and food (Song 2004; African American, Chinese, and Latin American Huh and Reid 2000). Parents and children engage camps. in a number of activities together and separately. The third camp, Camp Unity (CU), is a week- Children usually participate in games and activities end camp that specifically focuses on issues sur- to foster friendship, and parents attend workshops rounding the placement of Black children into about the specific challenges that come with rais- White adoptive homes. The cost of CU is $85 per ing transracially adopted children. Although camps person, which includes all programming and meals, 342 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3) but lodging is separate. CU began 10 years ago and with high socioeconomic status) (Vandivere, Malt, caters to adoptive families with children between and Radel 2007). the ages of 3 and 17. CU is located at a retreat area that includes a conference center and hotel. The camp is highly structured, with dense program- Data Collection ming for both children and adults. CU actively The first author contacted camp directors, who then seeks partnerships with members and organizations shared information about the research project with in the Black community, including a local univer- parents. Interested parents were invited to contact sity’s African student association and several Black the author directly to arrange interviews. The churches. researcher ensured parents that their participation These camps, like most culture camps, were ini- was entirely voluntary and confidential. Interviews tially developed by White adoptive parents who were conducted in person by the first author and addressed the need for organized support in the her research assistant at a private location on the transracial adoption community (Delale-O’Conner camp grounds. The first author identifies as a Black 2014; Song 2004). Over time, these camps have woman and is an adult child of transracial adop- been promoted by private and state adoption agen- tion; the research assistant identifies as a White cies as important resources. The camps described man with no adoptive experience. here are similar in that they promote connections to Interviews lasted between 36 and 120 minutes. birth cultures and the adoption community but dif- All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The fer in terms of the participants they attract. Although interview process was highly reflexive, with the parents from each camp tend to be college gradu- interviewers practicing “deep listening” and recip- ates, they report substantial variation in region, age, rocal sharing with participants (Atkinson 2001). and socioeconomic status (see Table 1). Such techniques are useful in narrative analysis, with researchers taking on a participatory role, elic- iting the rich stories that participants tell about Parent Demographics themselves (Geertz 1983). All available demographic information about par- The first author’s “insider” status was useful in ents and children can be found in Table 1. As indi- gaining entrée, obtaining trust, and reflexively engag- cated by parents during their interviews, children’s ing with participants (Hammersley and Atkinson racial and ethnic identities include Black (both 2007; Chavez 2008; Labaree 2002). Moreover, shared U.S. native and foreign born), Cambodian, connections aid in what Markham (2013) referred to Kazakhstani, Chinese, Eastern Indian, Guatemalan, as “quality research,” or that which resonates with the and Vietnamese. The average number of children context, the participants, and the audience. However, per family was 2.4, of whom about 70 percent were insider status also presents unique challenges to data adopted. Nearly 62 percent of these adoptions were collection. In particular, desirability bias may bring international, and about 38 percent were domestic. participants to present themselves in more racially The average age of children at adoption was about conscious ways when speaking with the first author, 2 years and ranged from adoption within 24 hours an adult adoptee of color. Having a White man (the of birth to the latest adoption, at 13 years of age. At research assistant) conduct more than one third of the the time of the interviews, the majority of parents interviews allowed the research team to compare (45.7 percent) were between 50 and 59 years old, accounts across interviewers and root out interviewer and the average age of their children was 13. Most effects. As one might expect, colorblind-only dis- of the parents who signed up for interviews were course was slightly more prevalent with the White women (80.1 percent), and more than half were interviewer and race-conscious-only discourse was married (63.6 percent). Our sample’s education and slightly more common when the interviewer was income levels are higher than the national average, Black. These differences were small (about 10 per- with 36 percent having bachelor’s degrees and 52.2 cent in each direction), and both interviewers elicited percent having graduate degrees. The average all three categories of discourse (Figure 1). Combining annual household income across families was more data from both interviewers, we see a pattern in which than $100,000. Although we are aware of no aggre- small subsets of parents use colorblind and race- gate data on transracially adoptive parents, those conscious discourse exclusively, while the majority who adopt internationally are demographically (nearly 70 percent) combine the two discursive similar to our sample (i.e., older, well educated, frames. Goar et al. 343

Table 1. Family Demographics.

Parents (n = 56) Children (n = 94) Race/ethnicity Race/ethnicity White 97.9% White 0.0% Black 2.1% Black 54.0% Hispanic 0.0% Hispanic 3.4% Asian/Pacific Islander 0.0% Asian/Pacific Islander 42.6% Gender Gender Female 80.1% Female 59.6% Male 19.9% Male 40.4% Age Average age at adoption 2 years 20–29 0.01% Average age at interview 13 years 30–39 14.0% 40–49 31.7% 50–59 45.7% >60 7.5% Education level High School 2.7% Some College 8.1% Bachelor’s Degree 36.0% Graduate Degree 52.2% Household annual income <$30,000 3.7% $30,000–$49,000 3.8% $50,000–$69,000 14.0% $70,000–$89,000 13.4% $90,000–$109,000 14.5% >$110,000 50.0% Marital status Partnered 9.1% Married 63.6% Single 27.3% Average number of children in family 2.4 Percentage of children adopted/family 70.7

Note. There are different numbers of interviews, parents, and children because one interview may have included more than one parent, and these parents may have had more than one child.

Analytic Approach attention to counterexamples or unanticipated and surprising observations. This process included The entirety of our interview schedule includes revisiting, defamiliarization, and alternative casing questions about family history, decision to adopt, the data. family dynamics, challenges, rewards, and overall Revisiting is the process of reexamining data experiences of transracial adoption, along with with the goal of finding new information. This pro- questions about how parents think about and navi- cess is facilitated by taking detailed field notes, gate race specifically. To examine our data, we transcriptions, coding, and memo writing. By reex- used abductive analysis, which is an approach to amining data in a number of different ways, we qualitative analysis that promotes theoretical were able to identify new insights. Defamiliarization development (Timmermans and Tavory 2012). is the process of making data strange or unfamiliar Abductive analysis capitalizes on the vast preexist- to researchers, so that they do not gloss over impor- ing knowledge of researchers while drawing tant facts. We achieved defamiliarization by having 344 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

Figure 1. percentages of interviews in which discursive strategies are used, by interviewer race. Note. Values in Figure 1 correspond to Table A1 in the Appendix. the two coauthors, who were not at all involved in Race Discourse among the interview or transcribing process and who have White Parents no biographical connection to transracial adoption, analyze transcripts. This allowed information to White parents who adopt children of color are emerge that may have previously gone unnoticed. faced with racial realities that most Whites never We used alternative casing as our final analytic encounter. This creates a tension between personal tool. Alternative casing involves reframing the race privilege and caring for children who are same quotation or information into as many differ- racially marked. Thus, White adoptive parents find ent theoretical frames as possible. To use alterna- themselves at an important crossroads: to what tive casing, we identified quotations and then degree will they emphasize race? The path they combined and dissected them, looking for places take—colorblindness or race consciousness—will where they fit into existing theory and places where certainly shape the kind of home they provide for existing theories or distinctions between theories their children, the ways they teach their children to broke down. navigate the world, and how their children develop During this process, a common theme we self-identities. Of our 47 interviews, the majority encountered was parents’ trying to make sense of include both colorblindness and race consciousness race and how to discuss it with their children. in their narratives (n = 31 [66 percent]). However, Parents’ narratives supported what past research a substantial minority of the parents use colorblind- has identified as two dominant and competing ness (n = 7 [15 percent]) or race consciousness (n = racial frames: colorblindness and race conscious- 9 [19 percent]) exclusively. Below, we examine ness. Given what we know about the predominance each subsample. of colorblindness among American Whites and among transracial adoptive families, we then probed to discern if the pattern of colorblindness Colorblind Discourse persisted among camp attendees who, by their Although transracially adoptive parents cannot decision to attend camp, would be more likely to be escape race entirely, they can, and sometimes do, race conscious. Concretely, we tagged instances in make the decision to discount race within their which parents used either colorblind, race- families. Fifteen percent of the interviews exclu- conscious, or some combination of the two domi- sively include colorblind discourse. Although this nant discourses and traced how patterns of dis- is the smallest group in our sample, documenting course translated into racial practices within the any instances of colorblind-only discourse within home. The majority of these examples came from the context of camps that centralize race and eth- the questions “What is race?” “How do you talk nicity is telling: White habitus is strong. about race with your children?” and “Do your chil- As occupants of the unmarked racial category dren talk about race?” However, other interview and products of white habitus, White parents may questions yielded relevant responses from parents be unaccustomed to thinking about race on an that we also include in our analysis. everyday basis. Parents’ history of privilege can Goar et al. 345 result in their continued inattention to the ways that The perceived “ease” of race is also reflected in race will permeate the lives of their adopted chil- Nicole’s narrative: dren. For example, in reflecting on her own percep- tions of race, Clare prides herself on “looking at the [Race has] not ever been an issue—it’s not ever person and not so much at the skin.” Clare person- been something that I worried about or . . . ally identifies as alternately “Caucasian” and “non- something that’s bothered me . . . I almost find raced.” When asked to define race, she calls it it unnecessary to try and define it because. . . . “complicated,” then equates her own Whiteness There’s so many of them . . . so many races, with the raced position of her child, and people of we’re all just people—underneath the skin color more generally, stating, we’re all the same.

Well we’re all part of race you know. I’m White, Dori, who recently adopted a six-year-old girl from he’s Black, the next person may be Chinese or China, extends Nicole’s logic by electing to alto- Korean or . . . there are different shades of skin gether “eliminate” race from her life: colors . . . but I feel we come together as a community and support one another. Dori: It’s a hard question—race. Well, I don’t know because just recently I’ve eliminated it from my life. She concludes her definition of race with the stated Interviewer: Eliminated it? desire for race to be something we “wouldn’t have Dori: Yes, I think we’re a human race. . . . That’s to really think about,” but never discusses which just something I decided for me, you know? groups—Whites, Blacks, Chinese, Korean—are Interviewer: Can you say more? forced to think about race every day. Similarly, Dori: Yeah, I just don’t want to think like that Angela, the mother of a Cambodian son and a anymore. I don’t think about it anymore. I just Vietnamese daughter, laughs as she reports that want people to be people. And really, it just since raising children of color, she herself now happened recently . . . just in the last six “feels brown,” despite a White European ancestry. months I gave up on it. I’m evolving. I just She continues, thought I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just want to think about being a human I don’t look browner—I mean I was you know being. Why do we have to slot everybody? born of Lutheran parents . . . you know, from Ohio. Those . . . people are the blonde family . . The flexibility to select racial identity and/or dis- . I used to be that and I sure don’t feel like that miss race altogether is a privilege afforded to those anymore, adopting the kids. I feel like we’re a with White skin. Although Dori and other color- brown family. blind parents in our sample worry that emphasizing race will solidify contentious boundaries rather Angela’s claim to a “brown” self-concept presumes than alleviate their effects, there is little evidence the unfettered freedom to pick up and put down that making race a nonissue within the family will race at one’s will. Moreover, her concept of translate into the child’s experiences with the rest “brown” emerges as homogenous, vis-à-vis the of society. On the contrary, people will most cer- nuance of her previous White identity that includes tainly read the child through a racial lens. both geography (Ohioan) and religion (Lutheran). Parents’ patterns of colorblind discourse carry In contrast, when discussing the racial diversity she over into practices of race talk in the home. Racial witnessed when living in Los Angeles, Angela cel- inattention, or even elimination, suggests that frank ebrates a collective brownness that ignores distinct discussions and thoughtful considerations of race cultural histories and experiences: may be absent, infrequent, and/or ill formed. Such is the case with Angela, who reports that race is My perception of . . . L.A. . . . was that people “not a big presence” in their house. She responds to were just whatever. Everyone’s brown. You the question “Do [your adopted children] talk about don’t know what kind of brown, Persian race?” with a short “Not so much,” later expanding brown or Armenian brown or Mexican brown on her own difficulty with the topic: or . . . Filipino brown or whatever. . . . People were just sort of mixed up . . . it just seemed It’s been hard to have a conversation with [Sam] easy. about anything like this. . . . You know that is 346 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

not my area of expertise. It’s not like [we don’t For White parents, developing race conscious- talk about it at all]. We talk about race because I ness entails recognizing their own position of privi- think it’s interesting, but I don’t think that we lege vis-à-vis a racially marked child. For Lucinda talk about it well in terms of their race and our this begins with critical self-reflection. Before race. adopting her now 12-year-old Cambodian son, Lucinda admits worrying about her own biases. “I Similarly, Dori responds uncomfortably to the same was worried about me,” she says frankly, “I’m a question (“Does your child talk about race?”) with White person. How do you think White people are “So ah and ah. No, she doesn’t really.” This lack of around people of color?” Continuing, she racial conversation in the home has clear implica- denounces White people as “freakin’ oblivious” to tions for identity. As Angela explains, “Our kids are the experiences of people of color in the United Asian but they don’t know anything about being States, and dismisses any White parent who refutes Asian—they’re not Asian—they’re American their own biases as either “in denial” or “full of Jewish kids.” It is certainly possible that camp shit.” Similarly frustrated by White privilege, attendance will help parents learn to talk about race Kerry states, “I’m more critical of . . . this White more effectively in the home; Angela, for example, privilege crap that goes on. . . . I get pretty riled to seems to want to improve on this skill. At the time see how our society perpetuates White privilege of the interviews, however, we saw a clear line and people going ‘well we’re not privileged.’ But between colorblind discourse and weak or absent [laughs] we are.” racial conversations between parents and adoptees. Summarily rejecting the notion of “colorblind- The narratives from these seven adoptive par- ness,” Jill explains, ents reflect colorblindness through an inattention to race, cooptation of racialized identities, and We should all be very aware of race. . . . The attempts to eliminate race altogether. Although worst thing I think that people can say is “I these parents’ use of colorblind discourse resonates don’t see color. I’m colorblind,” because that with discursive trends among American Whites negates who people are . . . and it can’t possibly more generally, it stands out as unexpected within be true because the very first thing we see in a the culture camp context. Parents who both partici- person is the color of their skin. . . . And we pate in culture camps and also rely exclusively make assumptions and we have—all of us—I upon a colorblind framework demonstrate the resil- mean even those of us who have kids of different ience of colorblindness as a cultural trope and races we have . . . our own assumptions and our interpersonal practice. Their narratives further own stereotypes and . . . to be aware of that is explain the persistence of trouble with racial iden- really important. . . . I think race is really tity formation among transracial adoptees, despite important. parity with their same-race-placed peers on numer- ous other dimensions (DeBerry et al. 1996; She goes on to cite White privilege and racial dis- Feigelman 2000; Hollingsworth 1997). crimination—rooted in the “assumptions and stereotypes” she references above—as the driving force behind her decision to attend MAC with her Race Consciousness 10-year-old Haitian daughter: White parents who create multiracial families may suddenly have to confront racist policies, institu- This camp is a necessity, because this camp tions, and interpersonal interactions of which pre- teaches our children to be Black in a White viously they were naive. Research shows that culture and that’s something we can’t do for intimate connections with people of color can be an them. . . . I encourage all adoptive parents to go impetus for Whites to develop race consciousness, to camp but . . . especially this one because I despite the challenge it poses to their location of think it’s so important for our kids. Lots of privilege (Childs 2005). We saw this emerge in our people adopt from Ethiopia or Haiti or Ghana . . . sample, with White adoptive parents articulating and . . . all they see is a beautiful little Ethiopian sincere anger toward, extensive knowledge about, baby, but when their child grows up and walks and tangible moves to change a racist society. That down the street, people aren’t going to say oh is, they expressed race consciousness. Of the 47 what a handsome Ethiopian teenager. They’re interviews, 9 operated entirely through race-conscious going to say—“Yikes! There’s a Black guy, I logic. better cross the street.” Goar et al. 347

Not only do racially conscious parents under- with the message that “love is colorblind.” This stand the disadvantages experienced by people of sometimes resulted in heated disagreements color, but they name Whites as the oppressors, rec- between Kerry and other members of the agency. ognizing themselves as part of the racially oppres- Kerry recounts, “I would have to bring up address- sive group. It is this self-reflection that leads Jill to ing it to [one of the social workers] of like, ‘You’re implore other White parents to attend camp and being racist right now.’” obtain the childrearing assistance that their Bringing race consciousness into her personal Whiteness necessitates. By articulating their own life, Martha reports that her friends know not to privilege relative to their children, parents actively make racial jokes in front of her, explaining that she acknowledge the ways that race organizes life is not afraid to “make it ugly at a party.” That is, chances. This puts parents in a position to effec- Martha, like Kerry, is willing to cause discomfort tively understand racial realities themselves and and make others address racial inequalities and/or prepare their children for a racially divided society. racist actions. In this vein, Jill wrote letters to mem- One race-conscious strategy parents use is to bers of the Girl Scouts administration after learning intentionally construct networks with people who that girls in her daughter’s troop refused to learn share their children’s racial and/or ethnic back- how to pronounce her daughter’s name and excluded ground, seeking out communities through which her daughter while combing each other’s hair. their children can develop healthy racial and ethnic identities. In practice, this means worshipping at My Haitian daughter went to Girl Scout camp churches, sending their children to schools, and and she was the only Black girl in her group . . . attending community events in which participants the girls in her cabin couldn’t say her name. are predominately of the child’s birth race and/or Now they could say Samantha, and they could ethnicity. Robin, for example, reports, “I always say Jennifer . . . but they couldn’t say Aisha. take them to a Black barbershop and Black hair Now, that’s . . . bullshit [laughter]. I mean of braiding salons so they can talk and be there where course they could have said it. . . . At night after we [White members of the family] are the minor- dinner they would sit around and comb each ity.” Taking perhaps the ultimate step toward racial other’s hair, but nobody would touch Aisha’s immersion, Cynthia and her husband moved the hair. . . . I came home that night and wrote an family from New England to New Mexico in order e-mail to every single person in the Girl Scout to raise their Cambodian daughter in a more diverse administration that I could get to. environment. This decision came in response to racial identity struggles that began for their daugh- In contrast to colorblind parents, racially conscious ter at the early age of three years. Cynthia explains, parents “lean in” to racial identity and the potential “When she was little she struggled with that notion problems race entails for their children. That is, with being brown. . . . ‘How come I’m brown and racially conscious parents do “worry about it” and the rest of the family is not?’ . . . we didn’t ignore immerse themselves and their families in contexts that. We didn’t say, ‘Oh don’t worry about it,’ we that centralize race, rather than marginalize it. addressed it.” These parents not only address race Parents’ efforts to centralize race translate into but make race central—both their own race and home environments that foster race talk and create their children’s—by seeking out communities that opportunities for families to work through difficult share their children’s birth heritage. This may entail issues of racial identity. Reflecting the common a degree of discomfort for White parents who find sentiment among race-conscious parents, Kate eas- themselves, perhaps for the first time in their lives, ily answers the question “Do you talk about race in racially conspicuous. the home?” “Oh yeah, we talk about race.” Jill Parents further centralize race by actively traces her children’s race talk back to the age of engaging in antiracism in organizational and inter- three years and recounts early racial identity issues personal settings. For example, Kerry became the and the way the family handled them: first transracial adoption chair in the agency from which she adopted her son, a volunteer position Even by age three, they were saying things like, that she created. “I feel like you need to educate “Is brown skin pretty? We don’t think brown people so they know what they’re going into,” skin is pretty.” . . . So we had to do a lot of Kerry explains. In her role as adoption chair, she reinforcement from an early age. . . . If we were insisted on “talking directly” about issues of race, brushing their hair I would say, “Oh you have despite challenges from the agency, which operated such beautiful Black hair.” 348 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

She further reports that her teenage children are that show how people draw deftly upon available “pretty open about . . . things like being followed in cultural frames in ways that both resist and rein- department stores and that kind of stuff.” Kerry force racist hierarchies (Burke 2012; Childs 2005; makes a point to talk about her African American Goar 2014). son as a “beautiful brown boy” and to discuss race Teasing out these parents’ discursive and strate- regularly within the home. This served the family gic paths highlights the tension between a personal well when the young boy began dealing with issues history of privilege and present membership in a of racism in preschool and had the impressive multiracial family. Many parents struggle to define wherewithal to defend himself: race, dismissing race or equating it with other sta- tuses. In other moments, however, these same par- Once he went to preschool I think people started ents leverage sharp critiques against racist society, noticing and making comments to him. One boy interrogate their own Whiteness, and actively called him he looked mud [sic]. Like the color address racial incidents. of mud. So we had to talk to him about that and For instance, Pam, a White mother who coad- another little boy told him that . . . he wished he opted her African American daughter with her wasn’t brown. And Jeffrey told him that you White same-sex partner, says she is “stumped” know, “If I wasn’t brown I wouldn’t be Jeffrey.” when the interviewer asks her to define race. She reports that when her daughter asks why people These open racial conversations between parents stare at their family in public, she attributes it to the and children, and from children themselves, con- family’s “beauty,” thereby evading discussions of trast markedly with the absence of race talk in col- race and sexuality. Yet, the family intentionally orblind homes, suggesting an important link moved to a racially diverse area and selected a between parents’ discursive practices and child school that has racial diversity as a central part of development in transracially adoptive families. their mission. Pam explains, In sum, parents in this subgroup take note of the ways that race organizes social life. They are aware We . . . chose to live in an area that is very of their own racial privilege, especially in relation diverse, that you will see other people of color. to their children. Rather than ignore, marginalize, You will see police officers of color, firemen of or erase race from home and family life, these par- color, shopkeepers. . . . We also put Becca in a ents centralize race as part of providing a healthy school that part of their mission statement is home environment. In cultivating healthy environ- diversity and they do stick to that. . . . They also ments, parents treat race as a factor that must play have teachers who are African American so that a prominent role, and children, like Jeffrey, demon- Becca sees other people that look like her. strate a handle on racial identity from a very early age. Just as the presence of colorblindness among Like Pam, Denise, the mother of nine-year-old culture camp participants speaks to the resilience African American twins Louise and Lola, was of culturally rooted systems of privilege, parents unable to define race. “I don’t know what race is,” who entirely eschew colorblindness in favor of she says. She then immediately displaces race with race consciousness indicate that systems of privi- culture: “But I think culture is the most important.” lege are not deterministic. Similarly, Fran opts not to define race but goes instead into a long dialogue about culture and identity, denying the very existence of race and margin- Discursive Entwinement alizing her child’s race among other identity Ultimately, we find that most parents do not adhere markers: strictly to one discursive frame or the other but instead move between them, at times invoking anti- I’ve come to the point where I don’t even think racist sentiments and insisting upon the centrality race exists. I really am not sure what it is of race and at other times pushing race aside and anymore. . . . I definitely think there are ignoring or excusing racial slights. The majority of ethnicities and cultures . . . I mean I look at a our interviews (66 percent) showed parents weav- child like Ellie and I go, well, she’s Kamir, she’s ing narratives that include both race consciousness culturally very American in some ways— and colorblindness. The prevalence of discursive midwestern. We’re raising her somewhat entwinement among our sample falls in line with Jewish [laughter]. So . . . I think about identity I existing research of intimate mixed-race settings guess more than about race. Goar et al. 349

Fran later states that she thinks these cultural identi- about how she didn’t like her nose. She’s got ties, and raising her children as “global citizens” is this flat nose and she said, “Everybody else has a “more important issue than skin color.” Certainly, pointy noses, I don’t like my flat nose,” and we the equation of race with culture and other identity had a conversation about her face and how markers (e.g., midwestern, Jewish) ignores the beautiful she is and you wouldn’t change unique stereotypes, dangers, and diminished life anything and—so we talked about it . . . after chances that come with racialization specifically. our first day here she came in and she said, These responses betray the ways that Denise’s and “Mom, Cambodians have flat noses. Everybody Fran’s Whiteness allows them to push race aside, here’s got a flat nose like mine.” And I think it’s leaving it unaddressed in some moments. those little things of just being able to realize to In other moments, however, both Denise and see that as part of her identity. Fran express keen racial awareness. For instance, Denise critically reflects on her own Whiteness and Actively incorporating race into her daughter’s internalized prejudices, expressing an eagerness to identity and engaging in difficult conversations correct any wrongdoings that affect her children’s about racial markers and Eurocentric beauty stan- sense of self: dards reflects Fran’s race consciousness, coming out alongside colorblind statements. I am certain that I am giving my children Highlighting the complexity of racial discourse, messages that White is better than Black. I’m we see parents move between race consciousness certain of it. I’m White. I live in a White culture. and colorblindness not only throughout their inter- I am inadvertently doing it. I don’t know how, views but also within single responses. Samantha, but if I figure it out, I’ll stop. But I don’t have the mother of an eight-year-old Cambodian daugh- enough Black friends, I don’t have enough ter, begins by acknowledging the disadvantaged Black people coming over to my house. I’m social position of people who are “different.” She working on it, but I’m certain my children think then neutralizes her daughter’s particular differ- that White is better. If someone were to come to ence and concludes by celebrating her daughter’s my house and show me . . . “Stop doing that, race: stop doing that, stop doing that,” I’d welcome it. There are people who don’t like differences. Denise’s admitted inability to define race and her They don’t like somebody with blue eyes . . . or conflation of race with culture exposes the ways somebody with a handicap . . . and skin’s the that her Whiteness protects her from certain harsh same thing. But we talk about her beautiful realities. However, the second passage, in which skin. I talk about, “ . . . I would love to have that Denise worries over family racial dynamics, shows caramel colored skin. It’s absolutely beautiful.” a thoughtful understanding of microaggressions So, I want her to be proud of her race and her and subconscious biases. Her self-critique and heritage. willingness to seek help are evidence of the ways that race plays a central role in her own mind, and Mary, the adoptive mother of 10-year-old African implies efforts to make space for race within the American twin boys, states throughout the interview home, even if by her own standards, these efforts that we are all part of “one human race.” However, leave room for improvement. she simultaneously acknowledges how skin color Similarly, Fran cites race salience as a driving can translate into hierarchical differences: force for the family to attend camp. Espousing this benefit, Fran notes, “When she leaves camp and Mary: I think of it [race] more as . . . I really goes back into the real world she’s very aware of think there is one human race, genetically being in a minority, which is not something she speaking. I really think there’s only one talks about very often the rest of the year.” Indeed, human race. How can . . . there’s never been Fran encourages and engages in race talk with her more than one race but . . . but culturally daughter, even though her comments about the people are different. . . . I’m Caucasian I nonexistence of race may suggest otherwise. know I come from European background Recounting one recent incident and reiterating the but I know I come from German Irish importance of camp, Fran continues, descendants. I know my children have just everything descendants . . . I know that. About three or four weeks ago when I was From . . . Mississippi up to Chicago we . . . putting her to bed she said something to me know about great-grandma . . . who’s part 350 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

Native American as well. So I think of it loving families but also provide a nurturing envi- more as . . . I really think there is one human ronment and necessary social skills. Although race. existing literature focuses on outcomes for chil- Interviewer: Do you think that race impacts a dren, we delve into the racial environments of tran- person’s life? sracially adoptive homes. We do so by probing Mary: Definitely [laughter]. parents on their definitions of race and practices of Interviewer: Do you think it will impact your race talk. children’s lives? We organized parents’ treatment of race into two Mary: Oh definitely. It already has . . . majorly. empirically and theoretically derived categories: colorblindness and race consciousness. Whereas In the above examples, Samantha and Mary switch colorblindness reflects the privilege of ignoring or between colorblind and race-conscious logics in marginalizing race, race consciousness recognizes the same passages. Beginning with a critical take critical racial realities, promotes antiracist behav- that recognizes racial prejudice, “There are people iors, and celebrates racial diversity and racial iden- who don’t like difference,” Samantha quickly tity. Although colorblindness is more common equates racial categorization with the more benign among American Whites and has been recorded human variation of eye color. Additionally, among White transracial adoptive parents, our sam- Samantha asserts that she “would love to have that ple, consisting of culture camp attendees, gives race caramel colored skin,” a comment that ignores the consciousness an opportunity to emerge. privilege afforded to her by her White complexion. We found evidence of both colorblindness and However, she goes on to tell her daughter that “car- race consciousness among parents in our sample. amel colored skin” is “absolutely beautiful,” teach- Although small subsamples used colorblindness ing the child racial pride. That is, she begins by (n = 7) and race consciousness (n = 9) exclusively, using race consciousness, shifts into colorblind- the majority (n = 31) entwined these frames in ness, and concludes with race consciousness once complex ways. We mapped race discourse onto dif- again, all in the same thought. Similarly, Mary ferent levels of race talk in the home, varying insists that we are all part of one human race, while between absent, confused, or resistant and articu- acknowledging societal racial divisions and their late, open, and informed. implications for her children, blending colorblind- The presence of colorblindness within our sam- ness and race consciousness. ple indicates the pervasiveness and persistence of In short, the majority of White adoptive parents colorblindness, even among those who engage in in our sample entwine colorblindness with race activities that put race and ethnicity at the fore (i.e., consciousness. As they care for children who are those who attend camps). Given the connection in not as privileged as they, parents learn about racial our data between patterns of race discourse and realities, apply this uncomfortable knowledge, but practices of race talk in the home, colorblindness also bring their privileged histories with them. This within our sample lends support to those who suggests that the racial environment within transra- worry about transracial adoptees’ racial socializa- cially adoptive homes is a complicated one. The tion and identity formation. On the other hand, a continued place of colorblindness, even within subset of the parents in our sample use race con- camps, speaks to the robust nature of colorblind- sciousness exclusively, and all but seven parents ness as a cultural trope that informs White incorporate some race consciousness into their nar- Americans and, in turn, White transracially adop- ratives. This tempers the transracial adoption cri- tive parents. At the same time, the emergence of tique by demonstrating parents’ capacity to address race consciousness, both exclusively and in con- race meaningfully, despite white habitus. Of note, junction with colorblind discourse, indicates that it may be possible that parents could overempha- under the right conditions, even strongly embedded size race, minimizing adoptees as whole people. cultural patterns are surmountable. However, our data, even from the most racially conscientious subgroup, did not bear out this con- cern. Moreover, given the documented benefits of Discussion open discussion about all components of adoption, Scholars, activists, and policy makers disagree it seems that open and frank conversations about about the effects of transracial adoption on children race are instrumental for adoptees’ identity devel- of color. Opponents fear that White parents cannot opment (Brodzinsky 2006; Grotevant et al. 2011). adequately socialize children of color, but propo- In practical terms, our findings suggest that col- nents contend that these parents not only provide orblindness may act as the default, and race Goar et al. 351 consciousness, though attainable, requires explicit racial understandings and practices. Figure A1 in effort on the part of adoptive parents, and most the Appendix illustrates the distribution of dis- likely, these efforts take greatest effect when sup- courses among parents at the different camps. It is ported by both community and infrastructure (such noteworthy that all parents at CU engaged in dis- as camps). Although our data most directly speak to cursive entwinement, incorporating both color- transracially adoptive families, they have implica- blindness and race consciousness into their tions for patterns of race relations more generally. narratives, but none used either framework exclu- First, they demonstrate the connection between sively. This camp also stands out as the site that discourse and action. We were able to trace the way most explicitly addresses race (as opposed to cul- parents talked about race to their racial practices ture) and makes efforts to bring in Black speakers within the home: parents who used colorblind log- and leaders. It is therefore unsurprising that we saw ics in their interviews also described not addressing no colorblind-only discourse at this camp but also race in the home, whereas parents who were race telling that colorblind discourse maintained a pres- conscious actively sought opportunities to address ence, even if alongside a more critical view. In this race and racism in daily interactions. This indicates vein, we saw only colorblindness and discursive that race discourse is a meaningful indicator for entwinement at MAC, serving Russian–Eastern how people will interact in interracial situations, an European–Central Asian families. The weak show- important methodological point as well as a ing of race consciousness may have to do with the reminder of the ways language and culture have demographics of this camp, which, alongside behavioral consequences. Second, our findings campers of color, includes adoptees from Russia, show that racial dynamics are both deeply embed- who read as White.2 These patterns indicate that ded but also malleable. Parents in our study come organizational message as well as population from backgrounds of White privilege. This history demographics can affect both who camps attract as maintained a strong presence among our sample, well as how camps shape attendees’ racial prac- yet we also saw race consciousness emerge. tices. Thus, effectively shifting race relations likely Finally, the role of organizations and institu- involves motivated individuals, along with antira- tions in facilitating antiracism stands out as a tan- cist infrastructures and diverse, critically engaged, gible takeaway: camp attendees addressed race communities. The significance of infrastructures with the tools and support of a racially attuned and communities in shaping race relations certainly community and educational programming. A few extends beyond the culture camp setting and can key differences in discursive patterns across camps apply to places such as schools, local community suggests how organizational structure can shape programs, religious institutions, and workplaces.

Appendix

Table A1. percentages of Interviews in Which Discursive Strategies Are Used, by Interviewer Race.

Colorblind Racism Race Consciousness Discursive Entwinement Black interviewer (n = 28) 10.7 25.0 64.3 White Interviewer (n = 19) 21.1 10.5 68.4

Note. The Black interviewer was female, and the White interviewer was male. Table A1 corresponds to Figure 1. 352 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

Table A2. percentages of Interviews in Which Discursive Strategies Are Used, by Camp.

Colorblind Racism Race Consciousness Discursive Entwinement Mountain Air Camp Afro-Caribbean (n = 14) 14.3 28.6 57.1 Cambodian (n = 17) 11.8 11.8 76.5 Russian, Eastern European, and 40.0 — 60.0 Central Asian (n = 5) Camp Unity (n = 5) — — 100.0 One World Camp (n = 6) 16.7 50.0 33.3

Note. Table A2 corresponds to Figure A1.

Figure A1. percentages of interviews in which discursive strategies are used, by camp.

Notes Bartholet, Elizabeth. 1999. Nobody’s Children. Boston: Beacon. 1. We use pseudonyms for all camps, participants, and Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. 2001. White Supremacy and children. Racism in the Post–Civil Rights Era. Boulder, CO: 2. Although we did not interview parents of White Lynne Rienner. Russian children, the presence of a White demo- Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. 2003. Racism without Racists. graphic may have fostered an environment that Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. downplayed race. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo, and Tyrone Forman. 2000. “I Am Not a Racist but . . .”: Mapping White College Students’ Racial Ideology in the USA.” Discourse References and Society 11(1):50–85. Alexander, Rudolph, and Carla Curtis. 1996. “A Review Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo, Carla Goar, and David G. of Empirical Research involving the Transracial Embrick. 2006. “When Whites Flock Together: Adoption of African American Children.” Journal of The Social Psychology of White Habitus.” Critical Black Psychology 22(2):223–35. Sociology 32(2–3):229–52. Appiah, K. Anthony, and Amy Gutmann. 1996. Color Brodzinsky, David. 2006. “Family Structural Openness Consciousness: The Political Morality of Race. and Communication Openness as Predictors in Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. the Adjustment of Adopted Children.” Adoption Atkinson, Judy. 2001. “Privileging Indigenous Research Quarterly 9(4):1–18. Methodologies.” National Indigenous Researchers Burke, Meghan A. 2012. Racial Ambivalence in Diverse Forum, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Communities: Whiteness and the Power of Color- Australia. blind Ideologies. Lanham, MD: Lexington. Bagley, Christopher. 1993. “Transracial Adoptions Chavez, Christina. 2008. “Conceptualizing from the Inside: in Britain: A Follow-Up Study.” Child Welfare Advantages, Complications, and Demands on Insider (June):149. Positionality.” Qualitative Report 13(3):474–94. Goar et al. 353

Childs, Erica Chito. 2005. Navigating Interracial “Identity Development in a Transracial Environment: Borders: Black-White Couples and Their Social Racial/Ethnic Minority Adoptees in Minnesota.” Worlds. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Adoption Quarterly 18(3):217–33. Press. Hammersley, Martyn, and Paul Atkinson. 2007. DeBerry, Kimberly M., Sandra Scarr, and Richard Ethnography: Principles in Practice. New York: Weinberg. 1996. “Family Socialization and Routledge. Ecological Competence: Longitudinal Assessments Hollingsworth, Leslie D. 1997. “Effect of Transracial/ of African-American Transracial Adoptees.” Child Transethnic Adoption on Children’s Racial and Development 67(5):2375–99. Ethnic Identity and Self-esteem.” Marriage and Delale-O’Connor, Lori. 2011. “Culture Goes to Camp.” Family Review 25(1–2):99–130. Contexts 10(1):60–61. Howarth, Caroline. 2006. “Race as Stigma: Positioning DiTomaso, Nancy, Rochelle Parks-Yancy, and Corinne the Stigmatized as Agents, Not Objects.” Journal of Post. 2003. “White Views of Civil Rights: Color Community & Applied Social Psychology 16(6):442– Blindness and Equal Opportunity.” Pp. 189–200 in 51. White Out, edited by A. Doane and E. Bonilla-Silva. Hughes, Diane, James Rodriguez, Emilie P. Smith, New York: Routledge. Deborah J. Johnson, Howard C. Stevenson, and Paul Dorow, Sara. 2006. “Racialized Choices: Chinese Spicer. 2006. “Parents’ Ethnic–Racial Socialization Adoption and the ‘White Noise’ of Blackness.” Practices: A Review of Research and Directions Critical Sociology 32(2–3):357–79. for Future Study.” Developmental Psychology Evan B. Donaldson Institute. 2008. “Finding Families 42(5):747–70. for African-American Children: The Role of Race Huh, Nam Soon, and William Reid. 2000. “Intercountry, and Law in Adoption from Foster Care.” New York: Transracial Adoption and Ethnic Identity: A Korean Evan B. Donaldson Institute. Example.” International Social Work 43(1): 75–87. Feigelman, William. 2000. “Adjustments of Transracially Johnson, Fern L., Stacie Mickelson, and Mariana Lopez and Inracially Adopted Young Adults.” Child and Davila. 2013. “Transracial Foster Care and Adoption: Adolescent Social Work Journal 17(3):165–84. Issues and Realities.” New England Journal of Public Foster, John D. 2015. White Race Discourse: Preserving Policy 25(1):1–14. Racial Privilege in a Post-racial Society. Lanham, Johnston, Kristen E., Janet K. Swim, Brian M. Saltsman, MD: Lexington. Kirby Deater-Deckard, and Stephen A. Petrill. 2007. Geertz, Clifford. 1983. The Interpretations of Cultures. “Mothers’ Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Socialization New York: Basic Books. of Transracially Adopted Asian Children.” Family Giroux, Henry. 2003. “Spectacles of Race and Pedagogies Relations 56(4):390–402. of Denial: Anti-Black Racist Pedagogy under the Kennedy, Randall. 2003. Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Reign of Neoliberalism.” Communication Education Marriage, Identity, and Adoption. New York: 52(3–4):191–211. Vintage. Goar, Carla. 2014. “The Race Continuum: Colorblind and Labaree, Robert. 2002. “The Risk of ‘Going Race-conscious Approaches among White Adoptive Observationalist’: Negotiating the Hidden Dilemmas Parents at Culture Camps.” Pp. 190–203 in Race in of Being an Insider Participant Observer.” Qualitative Transnational and Transracial Adoptions, edited by Research 2(1):97–122. V. B. Treitler. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Ladner, Joyce. 1977. Mixed Families. New York: Archer. Grotevant, Harold D., Martha Rueter, Lynn Von Korff, Lee, Richard M. 2003. “The Transracial Adoption and Chrisopher Gonzalez. 2011. “Post-adoption Paradox: History, Research, and Counseling Contact, Adoption Communicative Openness, Implications of Cultural Socialization.” Counseling and Satisfaction with Contact as Predictors of Psychologist 31(1):711–44. Externalizing Behavior in Adolescence and Lee, Richard M., Harold D. Grotevant, Wendy L. Emerging Adulthood.” Journal of Child Psychology Hellerstedt, and Megan R. Gunnar, and the and Psychiatry 52(5):529–36. Minnesota International Adoption Project Team Grow, Lucille, and Deborah Shapiro. 1974. Black (2006). “Cultural Socialization in Families with Children, White Parents: A Study of Transracial Internationally Adopted Children.” Journal of Adoption. New York: Child Welfare League of Family Psychology 20(4):571–80. America. Lewis, Amanda. 2003. Race in the Schoolyard: Guiner, Lani, and Gerald Torres. 2002. The Miner’s Negotiating the Color Line in Classrooms and Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Communities. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Transforming Power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. University Press. Markham, Annette. 2013. “Remix Culture, Remix Gurin, Patricia. 1985. “Women’s Gender Consciousness.” Methods: Reframing Qualitative Inquiry for Social Public Opinion Quarterly 49(2):143–63. Media Contexts.” Pp. 63–82 in Global Dimensions Hamilton, Emma, Diana R. Samek, Margaret Keyes, of Qualitative Inquiry, edited by N. K. Denzin and Mathew K. McGue, and William G. Iaconos. 2015. M. D. Giardina. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast. 354 Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(3)

McRoy, Ruth G. 1989. “An Organizational Dilemma: Transracial Adoption. Lanham, MD: Rowman & The Case of Transracial Adoptions.” Journal of Littlefield. Applied Behavioral Science 25(2):145–60. Song, Linh Thuy. 2004. “Rice Paddy to Kung Fool Mask: McRoy, Ruth G., and Louis Zurcher. 1983. Transracial Race and Cultural Awareness in International and and Inracial Adoptees: The Adolescent Years. Transracial Adoption Communities.” Michigan Springfield, IL: Thomas. Family Review 9(1). Quiroz, Pamela. 2007. Adoption in a Color-blind Society. Squires, Catherine R. 2014. The Post-racial Mystique: Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Media and Race in the Twenty-first Century. New Rabinowitz, Joshua, David Sears, Jim Sidanius, and Jon York: NYU Press. Krosnick. 2009. “Why Do White Americans Oppose Swize, Jennifer. 2002. “Transracial Adoption and Race-targeted Policies? Clarifying the Impact of the Unblinkable Difference: Racial Dissimilarity Symbolic Racism.” Political Psychology 30(5):805–28. Serving the Interests of Adopted Children.” Virginia Reinoso, Marta, Femmie Juffer, and Wendy Tieman. Law Review 88(5):1079–1118. 2013. “Children and Parents’ Thoughts and Timmermans, Stefan, and Iddo Tavory. 2012. “Theory Feelings about Adoption, Birth Culture Identity, Construction in Qualitative Research from Grounded and Discrimination in Families with Internationally Theory to Abductive Analysis.” Sociological Theory Adopted Children.” Child and Family Social Work 30(3):167–186. 18(3):264–74. Vandivere, Sharon, Karin Malm, and Laura Radel. 2009. Samuels, Gina. 2009. “‘Being raised by White people’: “Adoption USA: A Chartbook Based on the 2007 Navigating Racial Difference among Multiracial National Survey of Adoptive Parents.” Retrieved Adults.” Journal of Marriage and Family 71(1):80– (https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/adoption-usa-chartbook- 94. based-2007-national-survey-adoptive-parents). Shireman, Joan, and Penny Johnson. 1986. “A Longitudinal Study of Black Adoptions: Single Parents, Transracial and Traditional.” Social Work Author Biographies 31(3):172–76. Carla Goar is an Associate Professor in the Department Simien, Evelyn, and Rosalee Clawson. 2004. “The of Sociology at Kent State University. Intersection of Race and Gender: An Examination of Black Feminist Consciousness, Race Consciousness, Jenny L. Davis is on faculty in the School of Sociology and Policy Attitudes.” Social Science Quarterly at The Australian National University. 85(3):793–810. Simon, Rita, and Howard Alstein. 2002. Adoption, Race, and Identity: From Infancy to Adulthood. New Bianca Manago is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Sociology at Indiana University. Her research employs Simon, Rita J., and Howard Alstein. 2000. Adoption qualitative, quantitative, and experimental methods to across Borders: Serving the Children in Transracial examine how small group interactions reflect and rein- and Intercountry Adoptions. Lanham, MA: Rowman force larger institutional structures. Specifically, she stud- & Littlefield. ies how labels affect processes of stigmatization and Smith, Darron, Cardell Jacobson, and Brenda Juarez. stratification stemming from disability, mental illness, 2011. White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.