Although the goings on in the small Louisiana town of Jena recently may not appear at first glance to directly have anything to do with adoption, or even open adoption, I urge you to take a closer look. This case where six African American students have suffered extreme injustice, while white students have for all intents and purposes walked free, lays bare the root of the racial issues still vastly ignored (by whites) in our nation. Those who have crossed this invisible line through adopting a black child, have to know that they now definitively straddle the chasm between still widely separated parts of our society. If not, then it is time to open some eyes.

Those of us who are now part of the ever increasing mix of transracial families, and most especially those of us who are white adoptive parents of black children, and black sons, need to be paying very close attention to what is transpiring in Jena, Louisiana. Why? Because but for time and space this could be YOUR child, your black son. If we as white parents do not fully open our eyes to the racial inequities in our country, things will never progress further toward change. Eventually OUR sons (and daughters) will be the victims of the closed eyes of a white world who believes that race is no longer an issue, and if we just stop looking at disparities in that context, it will all just go away.

This particular situation may seem outrageous to many watching the news, but like an isolated case of just a few school kids out of control. Unfortunatly, this is what black America has been living with since day one. To attempt to understand what our children will encounter in this world, we truly need to be watching, and involved as part of the solution here (and in so many other situations that happen like it daily). We need to fully acknowledge that not enough has changed in our world, even in the relative comfort of the United Sates Of America, and racism is alive and well.

I admit that often I do not see as much as I need to see, say as much as I should say, about the still vast racial divide. I am sure that has a ton to do with my being white, and never having to really, honestly face the world the way my son eventually will. I can hide comfortably under a protection of the white privilege I have been afforded, “Well it has never happened to ME, so how could that be?” But my son only shares that protection in a limited way, and only when he is in my presence. What happens when he grows up and becomes the adult black male that our culture fears and stigmatizes? People will not see his own basic goodness, and my white presence as his mom will no longer force them to either.

Yes, the Jena six could have easily been my son.

Even the news reporting of this tragic situation has been filled with white bias. A white Jena mother and daughter are granted a quiet and lengthy interview, where they blame “outside forces” for what has gone wrong, and yet the black mother of young Mychal Bell, (convicted as an adult and though it was overturned, still sits in jail) gets just a few hasty words in the middle of the emotionally charged march. Somehow it does not surprise me that people want to hear more about how everything is “just fine” from the white Jena townsfolk, than they do the realities suffered by the mother and her unjustly convicted black child.

As a new visit is in our near future with the birthmother of my beloved son, I do think about the subtleties in this Jena, Louisiana situation. I wonder if part of my son’s mother selecting me, a white mother to raise him, speaks of how she might have felt about my white influence in this world. Did she feel that I would have more power to protect him from the racist things she knows all to well he will experience? Did she feel even less able to parent him due to the racial climate of our culture? At the time I welcomed my son home, I could not even have begun to know how little I understood of what this beautiful little boy’s experience in the world will be.

The Jena six know, they know all too well. It is time that we all open our eyes to the imbalances and racial injustice, most especially those of us who deeply love our black children.

The following information was added after orginal posting...

Their names are: Bryant Purvis, Jesse Beard, Carwin Jones, Mychal Bell, Theodoore Shaw and Rovert Bailey. Mychal Bell was recently convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. An all-white jury took less than 2 days to convict him. He faces up to 22 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Sept. 20, 2007

Write immediately Office of the Governor Attn: Constituent Services
P.O. Box 94004 Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004 Facsimile: 225-342-7099

And call Call, 866-366-1121 or 225-342-0991 or 225-342-7015

The families have requested publicity and contributions to their defense fund (they cannot afford lawyers). The address to the Defense Fund is: Jena 6 Defense Committee, PO BOX 2798, Jena, LA 71342.



White Parents, Black Baby, And Racism With A Side Of Ice Cream


A Divided Culture

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images


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