Adoption Bookshelf: politics

Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts

More Thoughts On The Presidential Election...

On the heels of discussing Palin's and McCain's ties to special needs children and international adoption, I wanted to mention a potential positive of Obama's presidency for some adoptive families, as described in a recent post on Anti-Racist Parent, "The Black Family In America: Not Gone The Way Of The Dodo Bird Yet."

"There is one thing that I know for sure Barack Obama can help do that his opponent cannot: 'normalize' the black family in America’s eyes.

Last night, viewers of the Democratic National Convention spotted what is the rarest of things, according to media and statistics: a traditional, loving, black family. Wait…wait…I know that families come in all different varieties, and that families comprised of a single parent, same-sex parents, parents of different races and groups of extended relations, are as loving and valuable as the traditional model we insist on calling 'the all-American family.' It’s just that I rarely see families like mine and the ones my husband and I grew up in on TV and in pop culture. (Clair and Cliff, where did you go?) It has been decided that relations between black men and women are dysfunctional, that all black women are unmarried and unmarriageable, that black children don’t have fathers....

I probably shouldn’t need validation of normalcy from the culture at large, but sometimes that validation makes me feel good in spite of myself. It’s hard being invisible. The Obamas show the world that black families are still here. I am here."

Again, to me, this is a positive that transcends politics. I think anyone invested in racial equality (which would include the myriads of multiracial families made so through international and domestic adoption) would appreciate the value of a loving, successful African-American family being in such a prominent position in the public eye. Like the blogger notes, so many black families exist who defy misguided popular notions (e.g., that all black men abandon their families or are in prison), yet their representation in popular culture remains scant.

So maybe the Obamas will be viewed as the new Huxtables. If so, let's hope they have the same kind of impact on American culture as Henry Louis Gates, Jr. described the Cosby show as having two decades ago:

"If you watched television before 'Cosby,' you'd think that we talk about being black and poor all day long. What he [Cosby] did was simply present people as black; he didn't have to claim it for them....

The brilliant thing Cosby did was to put race and economic issues on the back burner so we could see a black family dealing with all the things black people deal with the same as all other people. It was the first time most of us as black people have felt a sense of identity with and resemblance to the kind of values we have in common, our relationships with our parents and our siblings."

Adoption in the Presidential Election

Living Freely's recent post brought to mind how surprisingly the issues of adoption and special needs children have emerged on the political scene this presidential election.

Whatever your political inclinations, it's wonderful that the American public is hearing these concerns on a national platform. I can't remember another recent election (and I follow politics fairly closely) where candidates have actually voiced concern for special needs children and for adoption-related issues.

VP candidate Sarah Palin's speech last night at the Republican National Convention marks the latest occasion. Palin, whose youngest child (5-month-old Trig) was born with Down Syndrome, spoke openly in her keynote address about the concern our country should extend to its most precious citizenry:

"In April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical. That's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.
Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a special love. To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House."

Wow! I was so impressed by this, and I hope that people of all political persuasions were moved, as well. Not because of any party affiliations but because it is refreshing and necessary for either (and hopefully, both!) of our political parties to recognize in our perfection-obsessed culture that all human beings have dignity and worth. In a country where 91-93% of all fetuses with Down Syndrome are electively terminated, we need more high-profile advocates for the "not-as-perfect" among us, raising public understanding of the unique value of all human beings.

Along these lines, Rick Warren, at t he Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, brought up some remarkable questions related to at-risk children, specifically, "Would you be willing to consider doing some kind of emergency plan for orphans?"

Here's an excerpt from that transcript:

Warren: This one is dear to my heart. Most people don’t know that there are 148 million orphans in the world. One hundred forty-eight million kids growing up without mommies and dads. They don’t need to be in an orphanage, they need to be in families, but a lot of families can’t afford to take these kids in.
Would you be willing to consider and even commit to doing some kind of an emergency plan for orphans like President Bush did with AIDS, almost a President’s emergency plan for orphans to deal with this issue?

Obama: I cheated a little bit. I actually looked at this idea ahead of time, and I think it is a — I think it’s a great idea.
I think it’s something that we should sit down and figure out — working between non-governmental organizations, international institutions, the U.S. government — and try to figure out: what can we do?
I think that part of our plan, though, has to be: how do we prevent more orphans in the first place? And that means that we’re helping to build the public health infrastructure around the world; that we are, you know, building on the great work that you and, by the way, this President, has done when it comes to AIDS funding around the world.
I think, you know, I’m often a critic of President Bush, but I think the PEPFAR program has saved lives and has done very good work and he deserves enormous credit for that.

Warren: Most people don’t know that there are 148 million orphans in the world growing up without parents. What should we do about this and would you be willing to consider or even commit to something similar to the President’s emergency plan for AIDS which, he said, AIDS is an emergency at PEPFAR. Could we do a PEPFAR for the emergency plan for 148 million orphans? Most of these, they don’t need to grow up in orphanages, they need to be in families and many of those families could take them in if they had some kind of assistance.

McCain: Well I think we have to make adoption a lot easier in this country. That’s why so many people go to other countries to ... be able to adopt children.
My great hero and role model, Teddy Roosevelt, was the first modern American President to talk about adoption and how important it was.
And I promise you this is my last story: 17 years ago Cindy was in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She went to Mother Teresa’s orphanage. The nuns brought her two little babies that were not going to live. Cindy came home; I met her at the airplane. She showed me this 5-week old baby and said: "meet your new daughter". She’s 17 and our life is blessed. And that’s what adoption is all about.

I would've liked to hear more specifics from both candidates--actual, concrete ideas would've been nice!--but at least the issue has been introduced to the public discourse. Let's hope it stays there.

(On an interesting side-note: I knew McCain had adopted from Bangladesh, but I didn't know the details about that adoption. This interview and article reveal more information about the adoption and his daughter, Bridget. There's also a cute, basic interview with Bridget herself at Scholastic News Online.)