How white adoptive parents of Asian born youth talk about racism within the family

From model minority to racial threat: Chinese transracial adoptees’ experience navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…Given the impact of White adoptive parents’ understanding of race on their children’s racial awareness and ability to cope with racism, it is crucial for White adoptive parents to foster an engaged racial socialization approach (Chang et al, 2017). Embodying this approach, adoptive parents may choose to: openly acknowledge race, including their White privilege and the importance of race for their child and family as a whole; instill racial and ethnic pride; move to racially diverse neighborhoods to increase racial representation; and help their child to prepare for and confront racial bias (Barn, 2013; Dolan, 2015). Parents who value multiculturalism tend to provide transracial adoptees with opportunities to discuss race and racism and offer exposure to aspects of their birth culture.…”

Microfictions and Microaggressions: Counselors’ Work With Transracial Adoptees in Schools

“…Transracial adoptees may experience a sense of racial isolation because many grow up as one of the few, or only, children of color within their school, neighborhood, or larger community (Samuels, 2009). Lacking support from others who implicitly understand their racialized lived experience leaves transracial adoptees feeling extremely alone (Dolan, 2015). Therefore, adoptive parents’ racial socialization approach has a substantial impact on adoptees’ development (Chang et al, 2017; Dolan, 2015).…”

“…Lacking support from others who implicitly understand their racialized lived experience leaves transracial adoptees feeling extremely alone (Dolan, 2015). Therefore, adoptive parents’ racial socialization approach has a substantial impact on adoptees’ development (Chang et al, 2017; Dolan, 2015). This socialization is affected by the degree to which adoptive parents embrace, acknowledge, or ignore the racial differences between themselves and their adopted child of color (Barn, 2013; Chang et al, 2017; Docan-Morgan, 2010).…”

“…M. Kim et al, 2017). Consequently, parents may not know how best to support their children after they have experienced a transracial adoption microaggression (Barn, 2013; Dolan, 2015). For instance, transracial adoptees may be the subject of microaggressions from people of their birth country’s racial or ethnic group who criticize them for “acting too White” or not being “real Asians” and may also be singled out by White individuals, including the members of their extended adoptive family, for “acting too Asian” (Baden, 2008; Mohanty, 2015; Wing, 2019).…”

“…Although less common, an “engaged” racial socialization approach is associated with more positive outcomes for adoptees (Chang et al, 2017) and stronger relationships with their adoptive parents (Dolan, 2015). White parents who take this approach acknowledge the racial, ethnic, and cultural differences between themselves and their adopted child, as described by Kirk’s (1984) shared fate theory.…”