Reframing Transracial Adoption: Adopted Koreans, White Parents, and the Politics of Kinship

Acknowledgments

acknowledgmenTs T his book about family building could not have come to fruition without the support of many families. First I thank the adopted Koreans and the adoptive parents who invited me into their homes to offer both impressionistic and vividly detailed memories and stories . I will always remember the warmth and generosity shared around kitchen tables and in living rooms, urban apartments, and coffee shops. I must also thank the adoption agency professionals who answered countless questions about procedures and about their own positions in the field. Four adopted Koreans in particular deserve special thanks: Dorel Doane Marquez was one of my closest friends long before I ever considered going to graduate school or studying adoption. She has influenced my work in many ways, and I thank her for inspiring this project and for raising difficult questions along the way. Min Jung also contributed greatly to this endeavor. I am truly grateful for Min’s sincere support and companionship. I thank her for reading numerous drafts, for crunching data, for accompanying me to adoption-related events, and for always maintaining a critical eye. Her willingness to share her experience and perspective with me has added invaluable depth to my own understanding. My friendship with Todd (Hyung-Rae) Tarselli provided another crucial component to this process. When I met Hyung-Rae, as I was completing the initial version of this manuscript (my dissertation), I felt two dimensions of my life intersect in a powerful way. The completion of my dissertation allowed me to return to prison-related xiv Acknowledgments activism. My focus on the injustice of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) sentencing in Pennsylvania led me to Hyung-Rae, a “lifer” who just happened to be an adopted Korean. The family Hyung-Rae has built among political prisoners, artists, and activists speaks to the broad notion of family that adoptees deserve. I am honored to have Hyung-Rae as a brother. Jane Jeong Trenka is the fourth adopted Korean to whom I owe special thanks. Jane’s vantage point from Korea, where she is entrenched in the movement for adoption reform, dramatically informed both my critique and my optimism for meaningful change. How she found time to read and offer thoughtful feedback on my work is a mystery. It was her encouragement that pushed me through to the final stage. Members of my initial academic family at Temple University have offered sustained guidance. Professors Judith Goode, Thomas C. Patterson, Joyce Ann Joyce, and Susan Brin Hyatt have all provided extremely insightful mentoring that continues to the present. I am grateful to Tom Patterson for leading me to his dear friend Christine Gailey. Christine’s work provided a model for mine, and I thank her for her incisive feedback on earlier drafts and papers. I also thank Janet Francendese at Temple University Press for recognizing the merits of this project. I am tremendously grateful to Linda Trinh Võ and the anonymous readers for Temple University Press for their vital suggestions for revision. I thank Rebecca Logan for her patience and support in the final stages of the editorial process. Many friends who started as graduate school peers but developed into family deserve special acknowledgment. I thank Mary Stricker for feeding my resolve to remain vigilant on the question of how we as white folks can know our place in the struggle to dismantle racism and expose the contradictions of whiteness. A warm and hearty thank-you also goes to Joseph Gonzales for his assistance with visual presentations of this research and, especially, for being an incredibly loving uncle to Nina and Iris. Anastasia Hudgins has read far too many pages of my writing, listened to conference papers in hotel rooms, and offered irreplaceable sisterly companionship in our navigation through the landscapes of the academy. I thank Chris Carrico and his family in Guyana for their hospitality and rich conversations about transnational family life. I also thank Tricia Melzer for creating a tremendously affirming professional and political space for me to grow as a feminist and educator and for forming with her partner, Karl Surkan, a loving family model that is beautifully outside of the norm. To my political family in Philadelphia, I offer thanks for providing an exceptionally meaningful bridge between activist and academic approaches to social change. I am especially grateful to William Goldsby and Hakim Ali for Acknowledgments xv their leadership and mentoring and to...