The Conversation: “Explainer: what is casual racism?”
An explanation of the everyday and more subtle forms of racism that racial minorities face. The article explains how casual racism is upheld through jokes,…
Resource Type: Article
NPR: “How ‘Ching Chong’ Became The Go-To Slur For Mocking East Asians”
A brief article about the history and prevalence of a racist slur used against Asian people.
Vice: “Why People Still Laugh at Asian Accents: An Investigation”
An explanation of the racism that underpins the mockery of Asian accents. The article also examines why Asian accents are still laughed at today.
BBC: “The pervasive problem of ‘linguistic racism'”
An examination of the privileges that native English speakers (and English speakers with a native accent) have. The author considers how non-native speakers are discriminated…
NPR: “Want to have better conversations about racism with your parents? Here’s how”
An NPR article from the perspective of a biracial person. It explains how to have more complex, considerate discussions about racism with your parents.
NMAAHC: “Being Antiracist”
This article explains the levels at which racism exists (individual, interpersonal, institutional, etc.). It also provides simple exercises for people to engage with and examine…
Dear Asian Youth: “Mocking an Asian Accent is Never Funny”
A first-person piece on why mocking an Asian accent should never be considered funny. The author talks about how mocking accents contributes to racism.
Vox: “What exactly is a microaggression?”
This article describes what microaggressions are and how they’re more than everyday slights or remarks. It also explains the negative impacts they have on individuals,…
NCFA: “Post-Adoption Services Acknowledging and Dealing with Loss”
An article on the way loss, rejection, guilt, grief, identity, intimacy, and control, affect adoptees’ experiences and lives.
NCFA: “Talking to Adopted Children About Birth Parents and Families of Origin: How to Answer the ‘Hard Questions'”
An article about how adoptive parents should navigate discussion about an adoptee’s birth family. The author suggests that adoptive parents must be open and transparent…
NCFA: “The Impact of Adoption on Teen Identity Formation”
This article explores the ways in which adoption can affect adolescents’ formation of identity.
NCFA: “Positive Practices in Transracial Adoption Parenting”
In the article, an adoptee asserts that parents must bring up the topic of adoption first and work with their children to understand their feelings.…
Adoption Network: “Understand Your Adopted Child”
This article explains how adoptees have felt loss and experienced trauma. Additionally, it talks about birth family searches and the shortcomings of some of the…
NCFA: “Being a Birth Mom Changed the Way I Parent”
An article where a birth mom reflects on giving up her first daughter to adoption, then giving birth to and raising two children after.
NCFA: “What You Should Know About Choosing Adoption”
A webpage full of answers to FAQs relating to birth parents and prospective adoptive parents.
NCFA: “Resources for Being an LGBTQ-Friendly Agency”
Same-sex headed families play a large and important role in the adoption community. This is a list of resources for being an inclusive and LGBTQ-friendly…
Creating a Family: “Helping Your Adopted Child Handle Adoption Microaggressions”
A short article that identifies variations of microaggressions that are particular to adoption. It also teaches adopted children strategies to maintain their confidence and coping…
NCFA: “Is Anyone Out There?: Finding Support as a Birth Mother”
A first-person perspective article from a birth mother on adoption, loss, and finding support after birth. She explains the loss that she felt after placing…
The New York Times: “Deportation a ‘Death Sentence’ to Adoptees After a Lifetime in the U.S.”
An article about adult Korean adoptees who have been deported back to Korea. It discusses a problem with U.S. adoption: some international adoptees unknowingly never…
Vox: “Why adoption isn’t a replacement for abortion rights”
When the Roe v. Wade draft leaked, many people argued that adoption could replace abortion. This article discusses the shortcomings of this argument and rhetoric.…
American Adoptions: “The Truth About Adopted Adults and Relationship Issues”
An article explaining that many adoptees feel they have relationship issues originating from their adoption. It cites that adoptees may have difficulties in both platonic…
NCFA: “Using Accurate Adoption Language”
A short, introductory article about vocabulary suggestions for terms relating to adoption. This article offers alternative words and phrases to ones that are considered inaccurate,…
American Adoptions: “4 Unique Challenges Faced By Transracial Adoptees”
An article by American Adoptions that examines some of the challenges that many transracial adoptees face.
Adoption Associates: “Openness in Adoption”
A brief article offering suggestions to prospective adoptive parents and current adoptive parents for maintaining transparency in adoption. It discusses birth families, the search and…
HuffPost: “10 Things Adoptees Want You to Know”
An article written by an adoptee about what the world should know about the adoption experience. While this is only an introductory adoption article, the…
Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition New York: “Racism and Microaggressions in Transracial Adoption”
This is a resource page which features articles that discuss the racism and microaggressions that accompany transracial adoption.
Children’s Bureau: “Parenting in Racially and Culturally Diverse Adoptive Families”
A factsheet from the Children’s Bureau that explains how to support a child’s racial and cultural identity, embrace life as a racially and culturally diverse…
Child Welfare Information Gateway: “Adoption by Family Type: Racially and Culturally Diverse Families”
A resource page from the Child Welfare Information Gateway with links to information about racially and culturally diverse adoptions.
American Adoptions NEWS: “25 Helpful Resources for Transracial Adoptive Families”
A resource page with links to transracial adoption blogs, websites, books, Facebook groups, and more.
NPR: “White Kid, Black Family: Transracial Adoption”
An article about a Black father and his family’s experience with raising a white child and transracial adoption.
Rudd Adoption Research Program UMASS Amherst: “Promoting Adoptees’ Well-Being in Transracial Adoptive Families”
An article with parenting techniques designed to support and uplift transracially adopted children. It also has a bibliography which features additional useful resources.
NCFA: “The Adoptive Parent’s Responsibility when Parenting a Child of a Different Race”
An article about the different ways adoptive parents can and need to support their children. This specifically discusses the issues, privileges, and challenges of adopting…
Adoptive Families: “How to Be an Anti-Racist Adoptive Parent”
An article on how to actively challenge racism and discuss privilege, especially in the context of a multiracial family.
NBC News: “All-American, with one foot in China”
A brief article about the need for adoptive parents to educate their children adopted from China about racism, identity, and the reality of life in…
NPR: “A Mother Reflects On Privilege, Adoption And Parenting ‘Without Perfection'”
An interview about a white mother’s reflection on her life raising two adopted Black children and two biological white children, and how she became aware…
NPR: “Growing Up ‘White,’ Transracial Adoptee Learned To Be Black”
An article and podcast on NPR about a Black, transracial adoptee. Chad Goller-Sojourner reflects on his identity and experiences growing up with white parents and…
BuzzFeed News: “What A Black Woman Wishes Her Adoptive White Parents Knew”
An essay from the perspective of a Black, transracial adoptee. The author discusses the racial dynamics in a family with transracial adoption.
Considering Adoption: “5 Things the Spouse of an Adoptee Should Know”
A brief article about five ways in which you can uniquely support and love an adopted spouse.
NCFA: Stories
A list from The National Council for Adoption (NCFA) of articles for and fromadoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and expecting parents.
NPR: “The Parenting Dilemmas Of Transracial Adoption”
This article examines the problems of color-blind parenting and how parents need to acknowledge and celebrate racial diversity. There’s also a 40-minute long audio version…
Time: “My White Adoptive Parents Struggled to See Me as Korean. Would They Have Understood My Anger at the Rise in Anti-Asian Violence?”
An article about a Korean-American adoptee’s thoughts on the title of “adoptee” and the racial dynamics in transracial adoptions.
Los Angeles Times: “‘I’m not allowed to feel those things’: How adoptees experience anti-Asian hate”
An article about the complex ways Asian adoptees experience culture, anti-Asian hate, and racism as a result of being adopted.
NPR: “‘Am I Asian Enough?’ Adoptees Struggle To Make Sense Of Spike In Anti-Asian Violence”
Adoptees explain their feelings regarding the surge in anti-Asian violence and the ways in which they are affected by racism.
The New York Times Magazine: “Why a Generation of Adoptees Is Returning to South Korea”
An article by a Korean adoptee which explores the reasons and ways for South Korean adoptees to return to their birthplace. There are also many…
Vox: “Genes aren’t destiny, and other things I’ve learned from being adopted”
An adoptee speaks candidly about their adoption experience — dealing with other people’s expectations and the ways in which birth family connection can be powerful.
American Adoptions: “How to Find Adoptee Support Groups”
An article about where and how to find adoption support groups. There’s information about groups for international adoptees, adoptees of color, and foster care adoptees,…
Adoption Surrogacy Choices of Colorado: “Understanding an Adult Adoptee’s Emotions”
An brief article which discusses the complex emotions some adoptees may face.
The Guardian: “Stories of transracial adoptees must be heard – even uncomfortable ones”
An article by transracial adoptee Nicole Chung about how adoptees are expected to fit into racist frameworks. She also explains which emotions are considered “acceptable”…
NPR: “Adoptees express their fear, anger and insight on race during social unrest”
An article that spotlights diverse adoptees and their families. Adoptees explain how their identity has been shaped by social unrest and the ways it has…
Healthline: “The Best Adoptee Blogs of the Year”
A list of different adoptee authors, their blogs, and information about what each one focuses on.
The New York Times: “IDENTITY: When Parents Adopt a Child and a Whole Other Culture”
An article about the complexities of the adoptee identity. It discusses how parents are not only adopting a child, but also their child’s culture in…
Finding and Working with Adoption Competent Therapists
An article from the Children’s Bureau about therapy, finding the right therapist, and knowing how to work with them — particularly in the context of…
