Are we parenting in a post-racial society?

Beth Hall, Director of Pact-An Adoption Alliance, discusses whether or not parents today are parenting in a post-racial society
Are We Parenting In A Post-Racial Society?
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Are we parenting in a post-racial society?

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I think this term post-racial is actually pretty dangerous, because I think what a lot of people mean when they say post-racial is that we don't have to pay attention to race. And until we live in a world that's truly a level playing field, that's not really okay. If we say things are post-racial now, we're saying that the way things are right now, the status quo is okay with us. It's not okay with me that the number one cause for death for black men between 21 and 25 is a gun shot. I don't think that could be very okay with very many of us. It's not okay that we make assumptions about Latinos being in gangs before we make assumptions about them being good at math, say. That's not very okay. So we are far from post-racial. And the truth is there's a way in which saying a goal might be post-racial that almost says it would be good if we didn't notice these things because they're all bad. But guess what? It's not all bad. I want my children and your children of color to grow up knowing the strength, the power, the incredible positive attributes that come from their heritage and their race, and we can't do that if we're afraid to talk about it.

Beth Hall, Director of Pact-An Adoption Alliance, discusses whether or not parents today are parenting in a post-racial society

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Beth Hall

Director, Pact - An Adoption Alliance

Beth Hall is an adoption educator who co-founded Pact, An Adoption Alliance, which is a multicultural adoption organization dedicated to addressing essential issues affecting adopted children of color. Pact offers lifelong support and placement services for birth and adoptive families with adopted kids of color. A national speaker, she is also the author of numerous articles and a book, Inside Transracial Adoption, which is filled with personal stories, practical suggestions, and theory, and delivers the message that race matters; racism is alive; and families built transracially can develop strong and binding ties. In 2010 she received the Outstanding Practitioner in Adoption Award, from the Adoption Initiative at St. John's University. She currently serves as a contributing author and advisory board member for “Adoption Clubhouse,” a project promoting positive identity in transracially adopted children for the Evan B. Donaldson Institute for Adoption and as an Advisory Board Member for the On Your Feet Foundation, dedicated to supporting birth mothers of adopted children.Commitment to family is a way of life for Beth. She is the white adoptive mom of two young adults: Sofia, a Latina, and James, an African American. Beth grew up a member of an adoptive family—her sister, Barbara, was adopted. She lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and sometimes her adult children, when they are home.

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