Birthmarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America

Index

I N D E X Abandoned, 56, 88, 116, 135–136; aban­ donment issues, 97 Abortion, 46, 120, 122 “Adoptable,” 37, 140 Adoption agencies, 78, 156, 161, 177 Adoption records, 43, 119 Adoptive father, 111, 122 Adoptive mother, 56, 122, 127, 136 AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), 24, 163, 167 Affirmative action, 137 African American Children: in adoption sys­ tem, 35, 158; in foster care, 46; in White families, 140 African American communities, 49, 92 African American culture, 3, 58, 60, 73, 77–78; and history, 93; and identity, 123, 145; and roots, 15 African American families, 38, 45, 52, 135, 153, 156, 181 African American identity: among transra­ cial adoptees, 11, 53, 66, 69; controversy over, 48, 50, 54; philosophy of, 51; problematized, 16–17 African American Studies, 57–58 African American transracial adoptees, 2 All­White maternity homes, 40 Altstein, Howard, 141–142 Ancestors, 1, 43, 103, 105, 171 Anti­Semitic, 92 Anita Hill­Clarence Thomas controversy, 68, 178 Anzaldua, Gloria, 78 Appadurai, Arjun, 102 “At risk”: Black children disproportionately labeled, 25; children, 158 “Authenticity,” 102–103, 112, 171 Baby boom and idealization of family life, 34 Baldwin, James, 94 Bartholet, Elizabeth, 140–142 Belafonte, Harry, 115 Belafonte, Sherry, 115 Bennett, William J., 160 “Best interests”: of children, 159, 170, 191; of the Nation, 161 Berry, Halle, 135 Big Brothers Program, 116 Billingsley, Andrew, 154 Biological: bond, 113; histories, 6, 106, 109, 171, 187 Biology: biological determinism, 111, 166; shaping identity, 15, 42, 110–111 Biology and culture: in definitions of iden­ tity, 101, 112, 171; in definitions of kin­ ship, 30, 129 Biracial: babies, 47; transracial adoptee, 35, 51, 55, 79, 81, 82, 84, 115, 118 Birth control pills, 46 Birth family, 128, 171; history, 44, 105–106 Birth father, 107, 115 Birthmarks: as race, as disability, emotional, 19–20 Birth mother, 37, 40, 42, 43, 56, 99, 101, 103, 106, 109–111, 114–115, 117, 122, 124, 126–128, 136, 186, 190 Birth parents: search for origins, 33, 39, 41, 51, 59, 102, 109, 110, 111, 113, 116, 122–123, 126, 151 Bisexual, 54 Black birth parents, 78, 97, 106 Black bodies, 90, 136, 138, 156, 178 Black children: adjustment in adoption, 5; adoption of, 143–144, 180–181, 189; in child welfare system, 3, 153; in foster care, 132, 141, 156, 190; in “foster limbo,” 5, 141, 146; and identity, 22, 50; infants, 130, 153, 157; movement for adoptive placement, 48; preservation of, 155; representations of, 133; White families, 63–66, 67, 85, 96, 97, 116, 140–141, 154, 169| 217 | Index Black church, 85 Black community, 92 Black couples, 40 Black culture, 73, 91, 92, 172 Black families, 50, 60, 66, 72, 81, 84, 86, 153, 156, 169, 173; absence in The Cho­ sen Baby, 29; and “culture of poverty,” 133; and the Moynihan Report, 154, 163; “pathology,” 143, 178, 181; will­ ingness to adoption, 157 Black­identified, 79 Black identity, 50, 60, 84 Black maternity homes, 40 Black nationalism, 3, 48, 50, 52 Black parents, 66, 141 Black role models, 116 Black slang, 86 Black studies, 92, 95; history, 118 “Blue ribbon baby,” 20, 37, 40 “Breakdown of the family,” 4, 134, 136, 160–161, 167, 176 Breeders, 40, 101, 133, 135 Carby, Hazel, 135–136, 138 Caughey, John L., 77 Children’s Defense Fund, 156 Child Welfare League, 156 Child welfare system: and foster care poli­ cies, 22; interaction with, 99, 119, 121; problems in, 143; and social construction of families, 45; and social construction of identity, 21, 38, 96; production of social knowledge about, 26; and race, 189 “Choice,” 40, 101, 118–120, 122, 129 Chosen Baby, The, 28–29 Civil rights movement, 46, 53, 70 Clifford, James, 101 “Color blind,” 147, 181, 182; adoption policies and racial identity, 21, 91, 139, 142, 159, 169, 177, 185; and denial of systemic racism, 22; and essentialist racism, 25, 176, 191; ideology, 49, 70, 145, 178–179; post World War II adop­ tion system, 20; and “race cognizance,” 25, 176 “Colored,” 94 “Color line,” 76, 121; women who cross, 24, 119, 176 Congress, 136, 149, 160 Contract with America; and welfare reform, 22, 133 “Controlling images,” 135 Controversy about transracial adoption, 2–4 County adoption, 35, 37, 186 Crack: addicts, 136, 151; babies, 151, 181 Crenshaw, Kimberle, 175, 178 Creole, 54, 55, 58, 168, 187 Cross, William, 76 Cultural determinism, 165, 183 Cultural eugenics, 143, 164, 182 Cultural genocide, 50, 155 Culture: and biology 112, 173, 188...