Transracial Adoption in the United States: The Reflection and Reinforcement of Racial Hierarchy

Abstract

Transracial adoption strikes most as an appealing undertaking. People who have adopted a child of another race or been adopted by parents of another race are usually delighted by the results and consider themselves truly fortunate. People who have participated in a transracial adoption might even assert that their families have transcended race and become "post-racial". These individuals might claim they no longer take race to be an important category and designation in their daily lives and express the hope that others would come to see things in the same way.