How to parent a child of another race

I have heard lots of theories and ideas about how to effectively parent an adopted child of another race, and think some of them are very wise. However, what really stirs my heart is to hear from an adopted child whose parents are of a different race. I want to know what these kids think, feel, and say. I want to hear from them what it was like to be black and raised by white parents. We want to do everything we can possibly do to make Andrew rejoice in the fact that we adopted him, and I feel it is very beneficial for us to listen to older adopted kids in order to know how to do that.

We don't know any families that have adopted transracially and have older children, so I haven't had any older kids to talk to about this. That's why I was super excited to see the following two posts on the ABBA Fund and Together for Adoption blogs. Both posts had interviews with older kids that were adopted transracially. These kids both seem so mature and have great relationships with their parents, and their comments gave me a lot of really good insight into how we can raise Andrew. If you have adopted, or are considering adopting, I highly recommend watching/reading them.

The first one is a video that was posted on the ABBA Fund blog. It is an interview with a bi-racial young man and his white adoptive mother. I hope someday that Andrew and I can have the same relationship that this mother and her son have!

I loved what she said about not realizing how "white" her world was until she adopted bi-racial children. I have noticed the same thing, and it was nice to hear her wisdom on how to handle that.

The second post I found is an interview with Talitha Piper. (Talitha Piper is the daughter of John Piper.) You can see a picture of Talitha with her parents here. You can read her interview here. Her words are so wise for a fourteen-year old!

These two young people gave us many good things to think about and meditate on as we seek to raise our precious little guy. Adopting transracially has some added challenges, but after 11 months of having Andrew we can attest that is soooo worth it!