Sandy Banks on Foster Care

"...after age four, NO child, regardless of skin color, has much chance that s/he will ever be adopted. This sudden and odd equality condemns all of the children who, for whatever reason, are orphaned in this country to spend their entire youth in the horrid foster care system."


Dear friends,

Lately, during our, currently, long distance phone calls, my oldest daughter (middle offspring) and I have been sharing ideas about the subjects of both child adoption and forster care. Through her research, she has found that from birth to four years old, when looking at the adoption rates of African American children, it goes like this: Light-skinned boys, then light-skinned girls, then dark-skinned girls, with dark-skinned boys going last.

Unfortunately, all four of those types of kids mentioned above are less likely to be adopted than, say, European American ("white"), Asian, or Latino children. However, after age four, NO child, regardless of skin color, has much chance that s/he will ever be adopted. This sudden and odd equality condemns all of the children who, for whatever reason, are orphaned in this country to spend their entire youth in the horrid foster care system.

On the link below, is an incredible piece by the incomparable Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times, that gives a professional as well as personal look at this far-too-neglected, but important topic.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus .
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-me-banks-20100501,0,6996,full.column