I recently watched a movie called “Wit” that I believe has connections with the material we have learned throughout this course. This movie is about an English professor who has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. During her story, she reflects on how the stages of cancer reacts to her body, the treatments, and the events that are significant in her life. The hardest part watching this movie is the way that she gets treated while living in the hospital, she is looked over by her doctor who doesn’t care about any aspect of her feelings, but only the results of how she reacts to the treatments. Her nurse is the only one who cares for Vivian’s condition because growing up Vivian wasn’t the nice person who made friends. She kept to herself and was successful teaching her class in college. This reminded me of some material we talked about in our course regarding power. Like Vivian talked about in the movie, she was always the one asking the questions and in charge, but this cancer has put her able to be treated like a number, powerless and relying on others to take care of her. This is just one of the many issues that are shown throughout the movie. When we talk about healthcare, we tend to think positive and how you come into the field wanted to connect with your patients. In the movie, Vivian was treated more like a research study because of the treatment that she was receiving. Her doctor was one of her old students that she taught and didn’t give much respect to her name. The sad reality is once you become sick you lose your identity, you are a patient and nothing more. Vivian is faced with her diagnosis of cancer and not having anyone to take care of her because of her actions and mean attitude of years of teaching. She loses her identity of herself and the bearing the pain is to much as she goes through her treatment. She spent her whole life talking about death talking about death, but when she faces this she seems powerless and hopeless. This movie shows how power can be shifted and taken away and the struggle it causes, but more importantly the issues regarding the healthcare system of injustice. The connection that you make with patients is important because it is part of their treatment to have a support system that cares about you. Overall this movie was hard to watch, but it represented the issues we spoke about in this course as well.
INTRODUCTION: Many people view transracial adoption as a vehicle for an erasure of culture for many children of color and traumatizing for many reasons. Today we are going to discuss the intricacies of the American foster care system. I am Joslyn Branham and discussing the topic of immigration and the American foster system today is Meredith Photis and Ikhlos Muhammad.
Meredith: Hi, my name is Meredith Photis. Racism is a prominent problem within the adoption and foster care system. In fostering or adopting a child, most people look for white children. The majority of people adopting or fostering a child are white, and they look for children within the same race. This means that African American children are left in the system longer than white children. According to Ronald Hall in his article The US adoption system discriminates against darker-skinned children, “white children waited 23.5 months on average” to be adopted, while “black children waited 39.4” months. Due to the color of their skin, these kids are unjustly left within the system for a prolonged period of time.
Ikhlos: Hi, my name is Ikhlos Muhammad. Much like the readings we have completed and talked about, we all can agree that the immigration process is a system that sometimes separates loved ones and the struggle to reunite may take years and countless paperwork. The foster care system I believe connects in a sense of loneliness that one faces when in situations like this. I can’t imagine coming to a different country alone and leaving everyone that I knew behind, just thinking about the willpower and motivation that one has by doing this shows me that whoever goes through such experiences in my opinion are the strongest. Sometimes these children are taken away from their parents and put in foster families with different cultural backgrounds, this can have a negative impact as well because it makes the child have to change and adapt to a culture they have never been associated with. The child will have thoughts of feeling like the outcast or what we have talked about in class “the other”, a place they don’t fit in and don’t have a sense of safety in their life. This unfortunately impacts the way they live and grow up, furthering away from where they originally are from creates more issues for children growing up.
Joslyn: Hi, my name is Joslyn Branham. Another contributing factor to the higher percentage of minority children in the foster care system is also due to immigration. NBC news released an article from the Associated Press stating that due to an immigration policy put in place parents could legally be separated from their children and placed in the foster care system. Once a state places a child in the foster system the state they are residing in can legally close the adoption case and their parents are never notified. This is an issue because it aids in children being forcefully taken from their parents which is a traumatic experience. There is no record kept of children so there is no accountability to what culture and childhood they possibly are missing out on when parents are in fact looking for them and want them back.
Ikhlos Muhammad: When talking about racism in the fostering and adopting system, the process through this all is difficult. For kids at young ages going through this, it affects them tremendously. The emotional struggle that the children go through grows with them as they live their lives. According to the article ‘Developmental Issues for Young Children in Foster Care” by the American Academy of Pediatrics more than 500,000 children are in foster care in the United States alone. Most of these children have been victims of repeated abuse and neglect. Issues like this develop physical, mental and developmental problems that interact with the quality of life for these kids.
Joslyn: A study through The National Institute of Health called the Transracial Adoption Paradox focuses on the social implications that adopted children may feel when adopted into a family where they are the minority. What was found was that statistically adoptees who were minorities were 2 to 3 times more likely to experience serious psychiatric issues and social maladjustment issues. Many families struggle with explaining racial concepts to their children and racial discrepancies. Many children of color feel as if they were abandoned in some of these aspects. In an article written by JS Lee about her own personal adoption story she mentions that adoption erased her own culture entirely being adopted by a White family and felt her existence was being gaslit and being told that people forgot she was Asian and just assumed she was white. Despite still being the victim to racist jokes and slurs. Not only are children dealing with these types of racial disparities there are also financial disparities as well.
Meredith: African American children cost less to adopt than white children. Ronald Hall elaborates “it costs about $35,000 to adopt a white child, absent legal fees. Meanwhile, a black child cost $18,000”. For no other reason besides their skin color, children are adopted at different amounts. The system is directly showing racism by valuing white children to be worth more than African American children. This separates and creates categories of children. It is despairing to know that programs implemented on a basis to help children are actually corrupt. The adoption process is an unjust system that creates a prejudice environment.
Ikhlos: Group homes are supposed to be home-like settings that are medically covered and cared for, for children who have nowhere to go. There are not enough foster parents willing to open their home to children of all ages or that have a history of behavioral issues so this is another option for them. Unfortunately, group homes are not always as safe as they seem, they are underfunded and provide little to no emotional support system for children. This residential institute that children sometimes must live in, give no family unity and is no place to grow up. Brittany Bartkowiak’s article “Group homes most expensive, least caring option for kids in foster care” talks about how in some of these group homes there were rules about showing affection like a simple hug is not allowed, and how the walls resemble a jail cell more than a bedroom. Growing up children are vulnerable to this life we live in, and group homes don’t give the emotional support or parental figure to help guide them through their journey.
Joslyn: The erasure mentioned in my previous statement is now further explained in a time magazine article, written by Karen Valby. The article focuses on a white couple who have two adopted children, one African American one from Ethiopia. The mother explained that she was not well equipped with dealing with the racial disparities that her children felt, especially with examples like Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, when her husband himself is a police officer. The article highlights many myths white parents tell themselves about not mentioning race to their children, but very obviously through the previous example given, this is a recipe for disaster and an emotional dichotomy for children finding their own identity within their family, culture and within themselves.
Meredith: Racism within the adoption and foster care systems leave African American children at a disadvantage. This results in more African American children within the system. The article Why Black History Month Matters for Children in Foster Care explains that “African American children make up approximately 33% of children in foster care nationwide, but only 15% of the national child population”. By comparing African American’s overall child population to the amount of children within foster care, it can be seen that an abnormal amount of children are in the system. The number of African American children stuck in the system are a result of the racism with the program. This racism, and how the system is run as a whole, prevents people from leaving the program. There is a cycle within the foster care system. When a child is in foster care, they may grow up without the same opportunities as other children. Some of these individuals never get the resources they need for success. Even when they are adults with their own children, they are at a disadvantage. This puts their children at a disadvantage, and the cycle continues.
Ikhlos: According to the Adoption Exchange Association, the average age for someone in foster care is as little as 8 years old. That being said the many kids that have been aged out of the system struggle to be alone and not have that support to start somewhere themselves and have stable housing or basic needs they have to live by. In an article that I read by Jessica Suriano she talks about her experiences she went through having to find a place after being shut out of the foster care system, thankfully finding a couple who helped her by giving her housing to live in. Many other people in her position don’t become as fortunate and that really is sad to hear. I believe that the age limit for the foster care system has to be looked at and changed, especially during the pandemic that we all are going through now. Many states are reviewing their guide lines and trying to help in any way, and this positivity creates hope that the foster care system can be more lenient in situations like this.
Joslyn: These real life examples echo much of the anxiety the fiction character Daniel from The Leavers felt with never truly belong. The theories we have studied starting as early as Adichie mentions the danger of telling a single story. Children can be made to feel as if they needed to be “saved” from the cultural disparities that existed in their own country. When it follows the erasure of one’s culture and ethic identity even when standing out in your own family there can be the rhetoric of Otherness that Ahmad mentions. Children born into families like this feel Othered when there is no mention of their identity and Othered in cultures they are born into without acknowledging in a healthy way they are different and that their identity should not only be recognized but celebrated to close the gap of mental anguish in the quest to belong and recognizing who they are and how they are meant to exist in this world.
Joslyn: As someone who is adopted this topic was something that meant a lot to me. Though I did not have a traumatizing experience and would be defined as someone with a great childhood, I know plenty of people in the world and in my life alone who were not afforded that luxury. I also plan to adopt in the future and I want to be fully aware of the good and bad experiences occurring so I do everything in my power not to contribute to injustices and inequality of children.
Meredith: In researching the racism within the foster care and adoption process, I was disturbed to see how a program implemented to help children, is actually hurting them. I had always thought of the adoption system as a program that helps children find a home and an overall better life. I had honored people who worked within the system for taking time and resources to help children who needed it. It is devastating to learn that in reality the system is corrupt and does not provide children with equal opportunities. I feel it is necessary to teach people about the realities of the foster care system in order to enact change.
Ikhlos: Before completing this podcast, I didn’t have much knowledge about the foster care system and what factors contribute to being placed in there. My parents moved from Kurdistan, Iraq more than 20 years ago and had to leave behind their loved ones due to our country being in a war, they came to the US to get the American dream. Their immigration process was a struggle and they went through a lot which helped me connect in a way of how this whole foster care system can be traumatizing. This podcast showed me a new perspective of just how difficult life can be when you find yourself alone in a whole new area and must adapt to the new culture you never knew anything about. The system helps many children, but I believe there must be more effort we can do as a country to make the process of adoption grow into a better experience and provide the resources that the residential areas like group homes need to better their quality of life.
Works Cited
“About the Children.” AdoptUSKids, www.adoptuskids.org/meet-the-children/children-in-foster-care/about-the-children.
Bartkowiak, Brittany. “Group Homes Most Expensive, Least Caring Option for Kids in Foster Care.” State of Opportunity, 26 May 2015, stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/group-homes-most-expensive-least-caring-option-kids-foster-care.
Blackwell, Rebecca. “Deported Parents May Lose Kids to Adoption, Investigation Finds.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 10 Oct. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/deported-parents-may-lose-kids-adoption-investigation-finds-n918261.
Burke, Garance, and Martha Mendoza. “AP Investigation: Deported Parents May Lose Kids to Adoption.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 9 Oct. 2018, apnews.com/article/97b06cede0c149c492bf25a48cb6c26f.
“Developmental Issues for Young Children in Foster Care.” American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Nov. 2000, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/106/5/1145.
“Ethics In International Adoption.” A Beautiful Way to Build Your Family, www.holtinternational.org/ethics.shtml.
Hall, Ronald. “The US Adoption System Discriminates against Darker-Skinned Children.” The World from PRX, 21 Feb. 2019, www.pri.org/stories/2019-02-21/us-adoption-system-discriminates-against-darker-skinned-children.
Lash, Don. “Race and Class in the US Foster Care System.” Race and Class in the US Foster Care System | International Socialist Review, 1 May 2012, isreview.org/issue/91/race-and-class-us-foster-care-system.
Lee, Js. “Opinion: The Trauma of Transracial Adoption.” Yes! Magazine, 13 Nov. 2019, www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2019/11/13/adoption-trauma-transracial/.
Lee, Richard M. “The Transracial Adoption Paradox: History, Research, and Counseling Implications of Cultural Socialization.” The Counseling Psychologist, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Nov. 2003, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2366972/.
“The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race.” Time, Time, time.com/the-realities-of-raising-a-kid-of-a-different-race/.
Suriano, Jessica. “What Happens When You Age Out of Foster Care During a Pandemic?” The Nation, 19 May 2020, www.thenation.com/article/society/what-happens-when-you-age-out-of-foster-care-during-a-global-pandemic/.
“Why Black History Month Matters for Children in Foster Care.” SOS Children’s Villages Illinois, 19 Feb. 2020, www.sosillinois.org/why-black-history-month-matters-for-children-in-foster-care/.
Zill, Nicholas. “The Changing Face of Adoption in the United States.” Institute for Family Studies, 8 Aug. 2017, ifstudies.org/blog/the-changing-face-of-adoption-in-the-united-states.
I would like to take this time to bring our focus to the systemic injustice African Americans are facing due to the unemployment rate for them being so significantly larger than any other race. The statics these researches have released show how just because of your race, you may not have the equal opportunity as someone that is Caucasian. I believe this is a worldwide issue, and it serves as a root of many problems the world is facing currently. First off, we are the US where we represent the freedom that everyone should have, but looking at the reality of this situation, the unemployment rate is a symbol of an ongoing issue of inequality and discrimination in the workplace. It limits the career opportunities that everyone should having come to the US just because someone is a different race.
The unemployment rates for African Americans and that huge gap there is between Caucasians unemployment between the two creates more issues limiting the opportunities that everyone has equally to not getting a place to stay if you don’t make a certain amount, not getting your kids into a school just because you don’t live around there, and most importantly not being able to have all the opportunities everyone else does just because of your race. This subject it emotional to me and connects to the concepts that we have been reading in class. One would be the perception of “the other” which in this shows how companies view certain races and discriminate based on those features, which leads to such high unemployment rates. This concept is the reality that many people face in the world right now, a sense of loneliness in world where there should be endless opportunities. When we talked about this certain subject we read short readings on how looking different can cause false perceptions of your personality, and that is what we are dealing with currently as well. If this issue was to be talked about more I believe there would be a positive step into helping everyone to maintain a job that helps them take care of their bills and provide for their family, which would show improvements in the community itself. It would be a positive outcome and make the community grow together for a better lifestyle. The health and well-being would increase because people wouldn’t have to worry so much about their different background to be the issue of whether they get the job or not.
I would like to take the time to talk about one of the readings which is called “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi. This reading brings to light the pain and suffering of the lives of so many women who were forced into lifestyles after the Islamic Revolution. This revolution changed the lifestyles of many people, but in particular the women, who had limited to no freedom and self expression. This takes place in Iran right after 1979 where Satrapi use to attend a French non- religious school to an oppressive state where women were forced to wear veils. She talks about the struggle she endured when having certain laws laid out in the new way of life. Freedom was not a right anymore, the power was into the hand of the dictatorship who made their own rules. Her family knew this was pressuring her, but they were afraid to speak up because doing so might cause jail time or even harsher punishments. Satrapi talks about how religion is part of her life, but the way she was living was not fair. She believed women should be equal to men, and to be able to express herself, and wear what she wants without judgement or punishment. Her book gives us a glimpse of her journey as well as how life was for the people living in Iran during this harsh time where dictatorship ruled them.
Shortly after that Satrapi goes through the struggle of trying to handle the pressure that her mother gives, the stress of the War that was going on, and the wanting to be a normal teenager. There is many events she talks about, but one in particular is her school where she noticed she couldn’t be normal with her friends anymore. She couldn’t express her feelings and love she had, and her friends express how unhappy they were with the restrictions just because of their gender. Unfortunately Iran is one of the top gender inequality places there is, still till this day women’s rights are little to nothing and the simple things we take for granted here are not even allowed for women there. Education was not universal and people like Satrapi had to self teach and read books because bilingual schools were banned. She relied on her conversations with her family, reading books, and the talks she had with her elders to help her further her education. She grew to be independent and work on her life as she knew what she wanted, and sometimes that was going against her religious beliefs.
In the end Marjane’s family comes to a realization that the life they want their daughter to live is anywhere, but in Iran. She goes out of the country to Austria where she lives to fulfill her education and freedom. The lifestyle of segregation and worry was something that Satrapi knew she didn’t want. When looking at this reading and others in this book, every person has their own story and in this situation Satrapi’s books gave her experience living in a country where women were treated like their lives didn’t matter. Just like in other readings either by race, gender inequality, or any another difference they were treated with no respect or sense of freedom. The idea that Iran has come far since the Revolution is no doubt, but the suffrage that women went through in the past doesn’t go unnoticed. Education for women should be available just as freedom and Iran evolving slowly but surely will give the chance of many girls to grow up with the same normalization of life.
Marjane went on to peruse her education and turned out to be one of the best graphic novels writing about her story which won several awards. She brought the question and the exploration between the West and the East while going in detail about her life she lived during the War in Iran. This reading to me represents all the women who couldn’t get out and are still in that country who want their freedom. Its a way for them to connect and know that there can be change done, women deserve the same equality as men.
Citations
Parvaz, D. “Iran 1979: the Islamic Revolution That Shook the World.” Middle East News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 11 Feb. 2014, www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/02/11/iran-1979-the-islamic-revolution-that-shook-the-world/?gb=true.
