transracial adoption
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Straddling Two Worlds: Transracial Adoption and the Authenticity of Blackness
“You are my worst fear realized,” a black woman—and complete stranger—said to me after I concluded my keynote speech. She continued, “I came to hear you speak, and you have confirmed my worst fears. You aren’t a true black person.” I am part of the first wave of transracial adoptees (I’m black, my parents are…
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White Woman Discovers Racism
In the latest episode of Red Table Talk, Jada Pinkett Smith, alongside her mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, hosted former Sex and the City star Kristin Davis for a probing, earnest talk about the complications of transracial adoption. Titled “Should White People Adopt Black Kids,” the discussion featured Davis talking at length about her experiences as…
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Tracing Your Roots: My Adopted Black Daughter Wants to Know Her Origins
A white mother and black daughter encounter the genealogical “brick wall” so many people face while researching African-American families during slavery. Dear Professor Gates: I have worked very hard to trace back the ancestry of my adopted daughter Rasa Braswell, who is African American. (I am Caucasian.) However, I hit a snag once I got…
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Tracing Your Roots: Did a White Lawyer Adopt My Granddad?
A family legend points to a turn-of-the-20th-century transracial adoption. Could that have actually happened? Dear Professor Gates: My mother and I have been tracing the family tree on the side of my father, Samuel Gibbs, for a while now. We have not been successful in finding out who the mystery white attorney is on my…