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An Adoptive Parent Writes:

I have three daughters;one bio and two adopted.  I am white.  Two of my daughters are biracial and one is Black, adopted from Haiti.  I am raising my daughters to understand and value their origins, but to identify with/as Black Americans.  I incorporate Haitian culture in our lives and we will return to visit friends in Haiti.  But my daughter will experience life as a Black American and that is the main group that I think it is important for her to identify with, feel comfortable with, feel a sense of belonging to.  I have friends who teach their children that they are not Black Americans, but Haitian Americans.  I feel that this leads to a feeling of separation and even a sense of "better than."  I question whether the benefit is for the children or for the parents.  There are many ways that I will help my daughter internalize a sense of pride in her birth country.  I just believe it is better for her to form her group identity as a Black American, rather than a Haitian American. 

What are your thoughts about this?    Thank you

 

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John Raible Answers:

I applaud you for your conscious decision to raise your daughters in a culturally-aware manner, and NOT in a color-blind way!

There are, as you know, differences between the culture of most African Americans and those from the Caribbean, and even more specifically, Haiti. And there are differences between what anthropologist John Ogbu calls "voluntary immigrants" who opt to come here and those whose ancestors were transported here during slavery.

For example, Ogbu found that black students whose parents chose to come to the US often have an easier time buying into notions of school success than native-born black students whose experience is rooted in long-standing, historic racism and educational neglect. Native-born African Americans have a much different experience of schooling, including segregation, inferior schools, hostile teachers, a Euro-centric curriculum that ignores Black History, and so forth. Recent immigrants, on the other hand, often view the US educational system as superior to that of their homelands, which is one of the reasons they choose to come to the United States, the so-called land of opportunity.

With this in mind, I could imagine it being helpful to your Haitian daughter to identify with other Haitian immigrants who are striving as voluntary immigrants to achieve the American dream. Of course, the longer the children of immigrants stay in the US, the more they experience the racism African Americans have been dealing with for centuries. As a result, the grandchildren of immigrants often have much more in common with native-born African Americans than they do with their grandparents.

Ultimately, it will be your daughter's burden and joy to develop a bi- or multicultural identity that works for her. If teachers only see her as black, they will miss out on the rich and different Haitian heritage she brings to school. At the same time, if she identifies solely as Haitian, she may miss out on the opportunity to form close friendships with African Americans and others who can teach her about coping with racism.

My advice is to encourage your daughters to explore all of who they are, and not force them to choose one culture over another. Yours is a multicultural family with African American, European American, and Caribbean heritages. Enjoy your diversity!

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