In the novel “The Leavers” by Lisa Ko raises some important questions that we as a society have yet to answer and come to a conclusion to. In the novel, Lisa Ko talks about Polly Guo and her son, Deming. The son was put up to adoption and was adopted by American Parents who changed his name to Daniel. This raises the very important question of Adoption and what is right and what is not. Another issue raised is that how hard can it be for someone to change identities and eventually find their own.
Being a person of color is hard enough in today’s world. Moreover, one can only imagine what it is like being put up for adoption being a person of color. In the novel, Deming is of Korean descent and later due to being adopted had to change his identify and since then had an identity crisis. From personal experience of moving to America, I had a hard time fitting in. Moreover, at this time in my life, I think I don’t completely belong in either India or here.
However, regarding adoption, “According to a 2017 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report, the number of children in the foster care system nationally has increased for the fourth year in a row. A similar report last year stated, “Nearly three quarters (71%) of U.S. states have reported an increase in the numbers of children entering foster care from 2014-15” (Julieburdick). Moreover, children of color are less likely to be adopted.
Works Cited
Julieburdick. “Foster Care in America: Realities, Challenges and Solutions.” KVC Health Systems, 2 June 2020, https://www.kvc.org/blog/foster-care-in-america/.
Ko, Lisa. The Leavers: A Novel. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2018.
Kools, Susan M. “Adolescent Identity Development in Foster Care.” Family Relations, vol. 46, no. 3, [National Council on Family Relations, Wiley], 1997, pp. 263–71, https://doi.org/10.2307/585124.
This was a really interesting presentation. Foster care itself is an extremely complicated system filled with inequities, and I could only imagine how much more difficult the system would be for POCs. Thank you for shining light on this!
I thought it was important how you incorporated not only the statistics of how the number of children in this system has only increased over the years but how children of color have a lower chance of finding a home. I also noticed how you mentioned the issue doesn’t stop there for POC because once adopted they have to deal with battling identity issues. I think these issues should be addressed more so families that are looking to adopt in the future are well educated about the areas where they’re adopting kids from.
I like how you showed that the number of kids in foster care has increased other the past four years. It really shocked me and allowed me to grasp a new reality of kids in the foster care system. I think it is important how you mentioned kids of color have a more challenging time in foster care because it is an important issue. I like how you mentioned Deming and how being adopted as a Chinese American it affected his identity.
lots of this information came as quite a surprise to me! I am really glad that you gave not only information like statistics of the fact that children of color are seen differently and they struggle with finding a home. I could not even imagine the difficulty that those people must endure.
This was an outstanding presentation, you truly clarified the context of Ko’s story. Foster care can be an intricate and tough experience, especially for POCs. This was really well written and I appreciate your efforts.
Hi, thank you for such an insightful context presentation. I particularly liked how you mentioned that they boy’s name was changed to Daniel after he was taken in by the American couple. I have heard a lot about transracial adoption and such but never really gave much thought to the topic. In the rare cases children of color are adopted, I think that it is important to still incorporate the culture that they come from in their daily lives. Changing his name to something more Westernized seems like an erasure of his identity although it may have been unintentional.
Hi, thank you for your excellent context presentation. You provided me with information about the different opinions of children of color and statistics about their difficulty in finding homes. I was shocked. I can’t imagine the suffering caused to them by foster children.
After reading the troubles a lot of children endure, I was shocked. Reading different facts and statistics regarding kids’ struggles, especially kids of color, makes me think I am thankful. Thank you for the informative presentation, which revealed plenty of new information to me.
The statistics are very surprising. I never read something like it before, and I would’ve guessed that the numbers are decreasing. This shows that issues in our society are getting worse, even though It seems like it’s getting better.
I am thankful to read about this problems of society. Thank you for sharing, I am learning every week about problems. I hope one day there will not be problems with any sort of society.
I could not imagine how it feels to be a person of color and being put up for adoption. Many people tend to seek out for a specific race and gender. Though, I have never read anything so inept and interesting like this before. It is definitely eye opening. It’s such an unspoken topic.