VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 95
AIR DATE 11 08 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Adoption Across Racial Lines
((SOT))
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mother))
We just wanted a baby that would be healthy and we did not
care about skin color.
((SOT))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
So, I knew I wasn’t white, I looked at my skin, but I certainly
identified as a white child.
((SOT))
((Nyara, Adoptee))
One of my best friends came over to me and said, “Timany
just said she doesn’t want to be your friend because you're
black.”
((SOT))
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
One minute I was born and I was with one family and the
next minute I was with a different one.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) ADOPTION 1 / IDENTITY
((Banner: A Question of Identity))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((NATS: Chad Goller-Sojourner one-man performance))
((Courtesy: Vimeo / Chad Goller-Sojourner))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
Black people scared me. And since I wasn’t a fan of being
scared, I would do my best to avoid them at all times
possible going so far as to cross the road when encountering
multiples of them. Raised on Lawrence Welk and Amy
Grant, I would be shy of 25 before I could hear rap music
and not think something bad was about to go down.
((NATS))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
I was this black boy who didn’t want to be black. From an
identity standpoint, I identified with the people around me.
So, I knew I wasn’t white, I looked at my skin, but I certainly
identified as a white child. I identified with my white peers as
opposed to black people either I saw on TV or didn’t know.
So, yeah, and I think this is very common with transracial
adoptions. You know, with transracially adoptees, your first
identification is that of your surrounding.
((Megan Walsh, Director, La Familia-Namaste Adoption))
A lot of adoptive families struggle when they adopt
transracially, because they are maybe not so comfortable
stepping outside their comfort zone. And I think it's really
important for adoptive families to be able to realize that when
they adopt transracially, they're asking their child to often be
the minority even in their family. And that's really
challenging for kids.
((Locator: Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((Lizelle, Adoptee))
Sometimes, I’ll walk into a class, and the first, like, thing that
comes to my mind is there another black person in this room
that I could relate to and that looks similar to me.
((NATS: Gym))
((Megan Walsh, Director, La Familia-Namaste Adoption))
It's really important that kids that are adopted transracially
have adult racial mirrors. I think the first thing that families
need to do when they're raising a black child or a child of an
ethnicity different than theirs, is that they need to find
professionals in their community that share ethnicity with
their child.
((Neema Hanifa Kamaria, Founder, Creations Spa))
With most families what I found is that they start by coming
in and asking about, you know, hair. That’s the initial
referral. “I need to know about how to take care of this
child’s hair.” But the truth of the matter is that it’s so much
deeper than that. You know, self-esteem, of course, you
know, how a child feels being in a place like New Mexico,
where we have such a small population of people of African
descent.
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
That’s interesting. That’s interesting for moms, I think, and
families to know that bit of hair culture.
((Kamaria, off-camera: Absolutely.))
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
Because, you know, hair is a social, socio-political issue in
our culture.
((Kamaria, off-camera: It is, it still is.))
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
It will help us as white parents who have not experienced
this to understand even going deeper, the issues of race and
social and political sort of ramifications of caring for hair and
understanding the dialogue around hair.
(Kamaria, off-camera: Right, absolutely.)
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
And beauty, standards of beauty.
((Megan Walsh, Director, La Familia-Namaste Adoption))
Learning to value every one of every ethnicity, and not to be
afraid of what we don’t know. I think that's what's really
important. People that get really stuck on being colorblind, I
feel like they're doing their kids a disservice because they're
not teaching them that how they are is wonderful and how
they came into this world is important and vital for
everybody.
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
So, what we know, once again, all the statistics we talked
about, there are all studies, a lot are government, it says that
around 13 years old, that black boys are seen as adults
whereas white kids are well into their 20s before they're held
accountable. How did that play out? Did you have like a
plan? Like how did that play out for you?
((Malia Fullerton, Adoptive Mother))
Yeah, so this has been a huge issue for us. My son, he’s
12. He’s 6-foot-1 (1m 85 cm). People think that he is 17
right now. We’re already talking to him about, you know,
what you do if a policeman stops you, you know. How you
have to assume that people are going to question you and
assume the worst of you. And at the same time, we were
appealing to a lot of things in African-American heritage.
Martin Luther King, Junior, you know, a lot of things that
were really positive about social justice, and helping him to
understand that he had a lot of tools available to him.
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
I firmly believe that as transracial parents that they have a
duty to prepare their child not just for the world they live in
but most importantly for the world they will age into. So, it’s
not fair to raise them when, and turn them out at 18 and say,
“OK, go live in this world that is foreign to you, that is hostile
to you.” Certainly, when I do their coaching in adoption,
that’s the message I send. When you decide to adopt
children of a different race, you've made a conscious
decision to expose your family to being uncomfortable.
((Popup Banner: Chad’s birth mother was an actress who
died in 2011))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
It was very interesting to see for the first time, at 44,
somebody who looked like me and to end up in the same
profession as she did was just crazy, you know. A lot of
people forget that adoptees have a story before they come
to you. Whatever it is, we have our own story and this was
my story. To know that I could like run my fingers over here
and I’m touching her! When I’m putting my hand under the
cellphone, we’re touching. This is her work, her fingerprints
are on here. My fingerprints are on here. Although she’s
deceased, I’m actually touching my mother. Not
metaphorically but really. And certainly that is something
beyond what I ever thought possible.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Isolation
((SOT))
((Dale Morrison, Zach’s Adoptive Father))
He has been from kindergarten through the only Afro-
American male in his entire class, all the way through.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) ADOPTION 2 / EDUCATION
((Banner: School))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((NATS))
((Nyara, Adoptee))
One of my best friends came over to me and said, “Timany
just said she doesn’t want to be your friend because you're
black.” That made me get mad and go and walk out of the
class sometimes. I would just, I would just go out of school
and stuff.
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's Adoptive Mother))
So, this is the behavior I was talking about. She would get
punished for leaving class, when class was an environment
where kids were calling her out for the color of her skin.
((NATS))
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's Adoptive Mother))
Yeah, Carter's already internalized that and said, “I don’t
want to be black.” And that’s a horrible thing to hear your
son say that he doesn’t want to be who he is, you know? By
the end of kindergarten, they wanted to qualify him for
social-emotional for Special Ed also. I went right to the
Special Ed department and said, I want these taken off.
Because this is literally the school-to-prison pipeline where
we’re talking about how can you list these descriptors of
'violent' for a 6 year-old boy?
((Nicholas Zill, Research Psychologist))
The thing that's striking is that with many a large minority
and even a majority of adopted children often have
behavioral issues in the classroom and they have some
difficulty getting along with other children at a higher rate
than biological children do. And that was a consistent
finding that we had in our research studies. Generally
speaking, black children do have a somewhat higher rate of
problems within the adoptive population as well as in the
biological population. That does show up.
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's Adoptive Mother))
There’s so many layers of, if you look at the curriculum it's
mostly white. If you look at books, they're mostly white. And
all of these things just disenfranchised our kids of color year
after year after year. And now, having adopted black kids
and having to pretty much fight for them so much to get them
what they need in school, has changed my lens completely.
((Constance Lindsey, Research Associate, Urban
Institute))
If you're growing up in a home that doesn't have a college-
educated black person and you're able to see one at school
who's your teacher, that might signal to you that, “Hey, I can
do this, too.” I actually have another study that shows that
having a same-race teacher for black students decreases
rates of discipline actions. And so, you're less likely to get
suspended or expelled if you have a black teacher. And so,
that might be related to how teachers think about
misbehavior. So, if you have a white teacher who isn't
trained in cultural competency and how to work with diverse
students, it might be harmful for students.
((Locator: Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((Zach Morrison, Adoptee))
I think everything that’s happened to me at the school
happened to me because I was black. A lot of people at this
school had it out for me from the beginning. My principal
was giving me a detention or something I didn't deserve.
That made me angry. I did punch a wall and I did break the
bone in my hand.
((Dale Morrison, Zach’s Adoptive Father))
He has been, from kindergarten through the only Afro-
American male in his entire class all the way through.
((Ramona Martinez, Zach’s Adoptive Mother))
I believe that race was an issue for Zach when he was
young when he was a little boy. I think that it was especially
difficult for him going to school and not having anyone that
looked like him that he could reach out to.
((Dale Morrison, Zach’s Adoptive Father))
Probably the worst incident we had was with the football
team. He was the only black kid on the football team, the
only one.
((Ramona Martinez, Zach’s Adoptive Mother))
He posted a picture of Zach going into the locker room after
practice completely drenched. And it had been a hot day
and, after practice, you know, they're all pretty sweaty and it
was a photo of him and underneath it, it said, “This is Zach
after a long day of picking cotton.”
((Zach Morrison, Adoptee))
I think it affected me a little bit for a while and then I just kind
of got used to it.
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's adoptive mother))
The lessons I’ve learned as a white mom and having black
kids, how much institutionalized racism is in our school
structure is absolutely phenomenal. And I never had to
realize that before I had black kids and yet this has been the
truth for all black families as far back as we can remember
but because I am white, I never had to, I never had to look at
that.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Fear
((SOT))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee…..in the street where the beating
happened))
It’s like right in this area, facing underneath my car, and I
could just feel the gun pressed to the side of my head.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) ADOPTION 3 / FEAR
((Banner: Police))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado))
((April Rauch, Mother of Adopted and Biological
Children))
What I do ask you almost every single day is to not wear
your hood on your sweatshirt. People perceive differently if
they see you in your hooded sweatshirt versus your brother
in your hooded sweatshirt. You’ve told me that you’ve been
followed in the Safeway up there, right?
((Guyan Rauch, Adopted Son))
Yeah.
((April Rauch, Mother of Adopted and Biological
Children))
So, you know, so both the kids go up to Safeway to go
grocery shopping. Do you get followed at Safeway?
((Henrik Rauch, Biological Son))
I haven’t noticed it.
((April Rauch, Adoptive Mother))
You haven’t noticed it?
((Guyan Rauch, Adopted Son))
That’s probably a ‘no’.
((Journalist))
Are you worried about your brother?
((Henrik Rauch, Biological Son))
Yeah. I just don’t want him to get hurt because of the way
he looks because he is my brother.
((April Rauch, Adoptive Mother))
I thought that we were prepared to parent children of color.
But I remember that the very first thing that really rocked our
world was [the killing of] Trayvon Martin.
((Picture of Trayvon Martin / Credit: AFP))
Because I remember that photo that was released of him in
his hoodie that looked so much like you, and we took you
kids to the march here in Seattle. And that just rocked my
world. That could have been you guys.
((NATS: children marching and chanting))
(Chant: I am Trayvon! I am Trayvon!))
((Locator: Denver, Colorado))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
I was adopted when I was two days old.
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mother))
We just wanted a baby that would be healthy that could be
ours legally and we did not care about skin color.
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
When I was four years old, we adopted my younger sister
Maya from a different biological family. She is my sister just
like my parents are my parents. I never really had the ability
to distinguish my skin color and how my skin color was
different from other folks around me, even my parents.
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mother))
When you are Caucasian parents, you may go into it thinking
on some level that you understand the concept of
colorblindness and superficially we were terrific. I mean, we
knew that it would be good to have a name identity that they
could relate to being black. Alex was named after Alex
English, an amazing Denver Nuggets basketball player who
is also a poet, and Maya was named after [writer and
activist] Maya Angelou. And we joined a group for
transracial adoptions and we bought the right kind of books
and with black characters but we didn’t understand what it’s
like to be black in America, what it’s like to grow up in a
transracial family. I did not understand about race. I was
totally naïve.
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
((Credit: Youtube, University of Denver Graduate School of
Social Work))
My name is Alex Landau and I appreciate everybody coming
out here this evening. I also am very thankful to be here. I
am a human right activist. I am a community member in the
Denver metropolitan area. I am a survivor of extreme police
abuse. I didn’t even fully understand their capabilities. I
assumed being out of handcuffs that I can have an
interaction with these law enforcement officers who were
searching through my '84 Lincoln Town Car. And to give you
a description, if you’ve seen 'The Godfather' it would be what
some people might consider a mobster mobile, very old, very
big body. I asked if I could see a warrant before they
continued searching my car.
((Chyron: Re-enactment))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
However, these officers immediately became irate and
began to punch me in the face.
((NATS: Alex Landau in the street where the beating
happened))
It’s like right in this area, facing underneath my car and I
could just feel the gun pressed to the side of my head. And
then, when I regained consciousness, they rolled me out by
my ankles and dragged me across the grass. And then let
me bleed on an officer's jacket until the paramedics arrived.
((NATS: Police cars))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
I almost bled out on the way to the hospital because I went
into hemorrhagic shock. And so, after the photos were
taken, I received 45 stitches. I was treated for a broken
nose, diagnosed for a concussion and later with a brain
injury.
((Maya Landau, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Sister))
I want you to know that, like, it affects me all the time. But
me, as a person, it’s hard for me to fully come up with the
words to just say, I’m so sorry for what you went through and
I should be more vocal and I am learning how to do that. I’m
learning how to be more outspoken.
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mom))
What I had to do after the assault was to begin to talk about
it and to fight for Alex.
((Photo Credit: Danielle Lirette))
And by fighting and speaking out, I began to lose friends and
immediate family members that I would talk about this stuff.
But it’s been worth it, because that’s what you do. If you
don’t talk, then you’re complicit. If you don’t fight racism,
then you’re complicit.
((NATS: Excerpts - "Mr. Officer,” Alex Landau))
((Courtesy: YouTube))
((Popup Banner: Landau settled a lawsuit with Denver City
for $795,000 in 2011 and two officers were fired))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
It’s made me colder and it’s made me bitter. There is a part
of me that has been permanently altered. I am a different
person because of that night and it totally changed the
trajectory of my life.
((NATS: Excerpts - "Mr. Officer,” Alex Landau))
((Courtesy: YouTube))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Origins
((SOT))
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
Finding my birth mom has helped me feel more whole.
((Deborah, Angela Tucker’s Birth Mother))
To be with you is a joy. That’s God's gift to me.
BREAK THREE
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten”
“They should not be protesting our president”
“They got what they asked for”
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
PROMO
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
We make a difference
When we unmask terror
When we explain the impossible
When we confront an uncertain future
When we give voice to the voiceless
The difference is Freedom of the Press
We are the Voice of America where
A Free Press Matters
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK D
((PKG)) ADOPTION 4 / ORIGINS
((Banner: Origins))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Bellingham, Washington))
((NATS))
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Part of my life is like a mystery to me. One minute I was
born and I was with one family and the next minute I was
with a different one. So, sometimes I can feel, like, why did
this happen? And I don’t know how it happened. And I want
some of those questions to be answered.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
What other question would help you feel, like, more
complete if you knew the answer?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Like, were you sad when you had to give me up?
((Amy Bowton-Meade, Maggie’s Adoptive Mother))
Adopting a child of color has another layer of complexity and
concerns about her well-being. I have felt like I can’t be, I
can’t do enough or be enough. I can’t do it right or I’m not
the right person for her. Like, what was I thinking that I can
do this? How can I be so arrogant to think I could like, you
know, fulfill this role for her?
((Brett Bowton-Meade, Maggie’s Adoptive Father))
I have come to understand more over the years that
everyone is looking to figure out who they are. It’s about, it’s
about one’s identity and I think for adopted kids and
particularly transracially adoptee kids, they have to
continually work through their stories.
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
My birthday always is hard for me.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
It is? You think about that?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Yeah.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
You think about what she is doing on this day?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
And then seven weeks later I feel even more sad because
that was the day that I was adopted and the day that she
couldn’t take care of me anymore, so, sometimes I just feel
sad about that.
((NATS))
((NATS: Excerpts from documentary, “CLOSURE”))
((Popup Banner: Angela Tucker produced a documentary
about searching for her biological parents))
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
Finding my birth mom has helped me feel more whole.
((Deborah, Angela Tucker’s Birth Mother))
To be with you is a joy. That’s God's gift to me.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
I’m middle class and she is not. And so, I think that the
conversations are uniquely difficult with that with, like, a love
for each other, a serious connection but we live so
differently.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
And then just seeing someone who looked just like me, my
birth dad, that was crazy.
((Teresa Burt, Angela Tucker’s Adoptive Mother))
It was hard for me to see it at first, because I felt like maybe
meeting her birth mother would kind of replace me. But
Angela’s interest in it was so deep, became so deep that it
helped me realize how important it was. And so, I think that
helped me change into, be part of it and to be excited about
it. And that was really freeing for me to be able to do that.
((David Burt, Angela Tucker’s Adoptive Father))
I got the joy of raising her from 1 through college. I couldn’t,
I wasn’t going to lose anything. I mean, you know, they’re
their own people. Children become their own people. And
because someone else may come into their life as an
important person and should, that does not have any impact
on my relationship.
((Angela Tucker, Director of Post-Adoption Services,
Amara))
The most common thing I hear from white parents raising
black kids is the fear that they won’t be able to raise their
child to have a full, healthy, black identity.
((Kristi Kilcher, Prospective Mother))
Yes, I feel like I’ve failed, and I don’t want to fail this child at
all. I want to be as good of a parent as I can be.
((Teresa Burt, Angela Tucker’s Adoptive Mother))
Yeah, I think the search has made her stronger. After doing
it, she can help others and is helping others with their
searches.
((Angela, with Maggie))
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
Do you think I feel sad, as an adult, having met my birth
parents?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Maybe not as much anymore?
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
I feel less confused but the fact that my birth mother couldn’t
raise me is sad. And it’s not going to change.
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up next week…..
((Banner))
I Support the Girls
((SOT))
((NATS))
((Dana Marlow, I support the Girls))
So, we’re on our way today to do a donation to the National
Center for Children and Families, of bras and pads and
tampons. And I’m just gonna go down and load up
everything we have.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
SHOW ENDS
EPISODE 95
AIR DATE 11 08 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Adoption Across Racial Lines
((SOT))
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mother))
We just wanted a baby that would be healthy and we did not
care about skin color.
((SOT))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
So, I knew I wasn’t white, I looked at my skin, but I certainly
identified as a white child.
((SOT))
((Nyara, Adoptee))
One of my best friends came over to me and said, “Timany
just said she doesn’t want to be your friend because you're
black.”
((SOT))
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
One minute I was born and I was with one family and the
next minute I was with a different one.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) ADOPTION 1 / IDENTITY
((Banner: A Question of Identity))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((NATS: Chad Goller-Sojourner one-man performance))
((Courtesy: Vimeo / Chad Goller-Sojourner))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
Black people scared me. And since I wasn’t a fan of being
scared, I would do my best to avoid them at all times
possible going so far as to cross the road when encountering
multiples of them. Raised on Lawrence Welk and Amy
Grant, I would be shy of 25 before I could hear rap music
and not think something bad was about to go down.
((NATS))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
I was this black boy who didn’t want to be black. From an
identity standpoint, I identified with the people around me.
So, I knew I wasn’t white, I looked at my skin, but I certainly
identified as a white child. I identified with my white peers as
opposed to black people either I saw on TV or didn’t know.
So, yeah, and I think this is very common with transracial
adoptions. You know, with transracially adoptees, your first
identification is that of your surrounding.
((Megan Walsh, Director, La Familia-Namaste Adoption))
A lot of adoptive families struggle when they adopt
transracially, because they are maybe not so comfortable
stepping outside their comfort zone. And I think it's really
important for adoptive families to be able to realize that when
they adopt transracially, they're asking their child to often be
the minority even in their family. And that's really
challenging for kids.
((Locator: Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((Lizelle, Adoptee))
Sometimes, I’ll walk into a class, and the first, like, thing that
comes to my mind is there another black person in this room
that I could relate to and that looks similar to me.
((NATS: Gym))
((Megan Walsh, Director, La Familia-Namaste Adoption))
It's really important that kids that are adopted transracially
have adult racial mirrors. I think the first thing that families
need to do when they're raising a black child or a child of an
ethnicity different than theirs, is that they need to find
professionals in their community that share ethnicity with
their child.
((Neema Hanifa Kamaria, Founder, Creations Spa))
With most families what I found is that they start by coming
in and asking about, you know, hair. That’s the initial
referral. “I need to know about how to take care of this
child’s hair.” But the truth of the matter is that it’s so much
deeper than that. You know, self-esteem, of course, you
know, how a child feels being in a place like New Mexico,
where we have such a small population of people of African
descent.
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
That’s interesting. That’s interesting for moms, I think, and
families to know that bit of hair culture.
((Kamaria, off-camera: Absolutely.))
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
Because, you know, hair is a social, socio-political issue in
our culture.
((Kamaria, off-camera: It is, it still is.))
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
It will help us as white parents who have not experienced
this to understand even going deeper, the issues of race and
social and political sort of ramifications of caring for hair and
understanding the dialogue around hair.
(Kamaria, off-camera: Right, absolutely.)
((Deborah Hill, Lizelle's Adoptive Mother))
And beauty, standards of beauty.
((Megan Walsh, Director, La Familia-Namaste Adoption))
Learning to value every one of every ethnicity, and not to be
afraid of what we don’t know. I think that's what's really
important. People that get really stuck on being colorblind, I
feel like they're doing their kids a disservice because they're
not teaching them that how they are is wonderful and how
they came into this world is important and vital for
everybody.
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
So, what we know, once again, all the statistics we talked
about, there are all studies, a lot are government, it says that
around 13 years old, that black boys are seen as adults
whereas white kids are well into their 20s before they're held
accountable. How did that play out? Did you have like a
plan? Like how did that play out for you?
((Malia Fullerton, Adoptive Mother))
Yeah, so this has been a huge issue for us. My son, he’s
12. He’s 6-foot-1 (1m 85 cm). People think that he is 17
right now. We’re already talking to him about, you know,
what you do if a policeman stops you, you know. How you
have to assume that people are going to question you and
assume the worst of you. And at the same time, we were
appealing to a lot of things in African-American heritage.
Martin Luther King, Junior, you know, a lot of things that
were really positive about social justice, and helping him to
understand that he had a lot of tools available to him.
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
I firmly believe that as transracial parents that they have a
duty to prepare their child not just for the world they live in
but most importantly for the world they will age into. So, it’s
not fair to raise them when, and turn them out at 18 and say,
“OK, go live in this world that is foreign to you, that is hostile
to you.” Certainly, when I do their coaching in adoption,
that’s the message I send. When you decide to adopt
children of a different race, you've made a conscious
decision to expose your family to being uncomfortable.
((Popup Banner: Chad’s birth mother was an actress who
died in 2011))
((Chad Goller-Sojourner, Adoptee, Performer))
It was very interesting to see for the first time, at 44,
somebody who looked like me and to end up in the same
profession as she did was just crazy, you know. A lot of
people forget that adoptees have a story before they come
to you. Whatever it is, we have our own story and this was
my story. To know that I could like run my fingers over here
and I’m touching her! When I’m putting my hand under the
cellphone, we’re touching. This is her work, her fingerprints
are on here. My fingerprints are on here. Although she’s
deceased, I’m actually touching my mother. Not
metaphorically but really. And certainly that is something
beyond what I ever thought possible.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Isolation
((SOT))
((Dale Morrison, Zach’s Adoptive Father))
He has been from kindergarten through the only Afro-
American male in his entire class, all the way through.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) ADOPTION 2 / EDUCATION
((Banner: School))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((NATS))
((Nyara, Adoptee))
One of my best friends came over to me and said, “Timany
just said she doesn’t want to be your friend because you're
black.” That made me get mad and go and walk out of the
class sometimes. I would just, I would just go out of school
and stuff.
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's Adoptive Mother))
So, this is the behavior I was talking about. She would get
punished for leaving class, when class was an environment
where kids were calling her out for the color of her skin.
((NATS))
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's Adoptive Mother))
Yeah, Carter's already internalized that and said, “I don’t
want to be black.” And that’s a horrible thing to hear your
son say that he doesn’t want to be who he is, you know? By
the end of kindergarten, they wanted to qualify him for
social-emotional for Special Ed also. I went right to the
Special Ed department and said, I want these taken off.
Because this is literally the school-to-prison pipeline where
we’re talking about how can you list these descriptors of
'violent' for a 6 year-old boy?
((Nicholas Zill, Research Psychologist))
The thing that's striking is that with many a large minority
and even a majority of adopted children often have
behavioral issues in the classroom and they have some
difficulty getting along with other children at a higher rate
than biological children do. And that was a consistent
finding that we had in our research studies. Generally
speaking, black children do have a somewhat higher rate of
problems within the adoptive population as well as in the
biological population. That does show up.
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's Adoptive Mother))
There’s so many layers of, if you look at the curriculum it's
mostly white. If you look at books, they're mostly white. And
all of these things just disenfranchised our kids of color year
after year after year. And now, having adopted black kids
and having to pretty much fight for them so much to get them
what they need in school, has changed my lens completely.
((Constance Lindsey, Research Associate, Urban
Institute))
If you're growing up in a home that doesn't have a college-
educated black person and you're able to see one at school
who's your teacher, that might signal to you that, “Hey, I can
do this, too.” I actually have another study that shows that
having a same-race teacher for black students decreases
rates of discipline actions. And so, you're less likely to get
suspended or expelled if you have a black teacher. And so,
that might be related to how teachers think about
misbehavior. So, if you have a white teacher who isn't
trained in cultural competency and how to work with diverse
students, it might be harmful for students.
((Locator: Albuquerque, New Mexico))
((Zach Morrison, Adoptee))
I think everything that’s happened to me at the school
happened to me because I was black. A lot of people at this
school had it out for me from the beginning. My principal
was giving me a detention or something I didn't deserve.
That made me angry. I did punch a wall and I did break the
bone in my hand.
((Dale Morrison, Zach’s Adoptive Father))
He has been, from kindergarten through the only Afro-
American male in his entire class all the way through.
((Ramona Martinez, Zach’s Adoptive Mother))
I believe that race was an issue for Zach when he was
young when he was a little boy. I think that it was especially
difficult for him going to school and not having anyone that
looked like him that he could reach out to.
((Dale Morrison, Zach’s Adoptive Father))
Probably the worst incident we had was with the football
team. He was the only black kid on the football team, the
only one.
((Ramona Martinez, Zach’s Adoptive Mother))
He posted a picture of Zach going into the locker room after
practice completely drenched. And it had been a hot day
and, after practice, you know, they're all pretty sweaty and it
was a photo of him and underneath it, it said, “This is Zach
after a long day of picking cotton.”
((Zach Morrison, Adoptee))
I think it affected me a little bit for a while and then I just kind
of got used to it.
((Stephanie Poole, Nyara's adoptive mother))
The lessons I’ve learned as a white mom and having black
kids, how much institutionalized racism is in our school
structure is absolutely phenomenal. And I never had to
realize that before I had black kids and yet this has been the
truth for all black families as far back as we can remember
but because I am white, I never had to, I never had to look at
that.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Fear
((SOT))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee…..in the street where the beating
happened))
It’s like right in this area, facing underneath my car, and I
could just feel the gun pressed to the side of my head.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) ADOPTION 3 / FEAR
((Banner: Police))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado))
((April Rauch, Mother of Adopted and Biological
Children))
What I do ask you almost every single day is to not wear
your hood on your sweatshirt. People perceive differently if
they see you in your hooded sweatshirt versus your brother
in your hooded sweatshirt. You’ve told me that you’ve been
followed in the Safeway up there, right?
((Guyan Rauch, Adopted Son))
Yeah.
((April Rauch, Mother of Adopted and Biological
Children))
So, you know, so both the kids go up to Safeway to go
grocery shopping. Do you get followed at Safeway?
((Henrik Rauch, Biological Son))
I haven’t noticed it.
((April Rauch, Adoptive Mother))
You haven’t noticed it?
((Guyan Rauch, Adopted Son))
That’s probably a ‘no’.
((Journalist))
Are you worried about your brother?
((Henrik Rauch, Biological Son))
Yeah. I just don’t want him to get hurt because of the way
he looks because he is my brother.
((April Rauch, Adoptive Mother))
I thought that we were prepared to parent children of color.
But I remember that the very first thing that really rocked our
world was [the killing of] Trayvon Martin.
((Picture of Trayvon Martin / Credit: AFP))
Because I remember that photo that was released of him in
his hoodie that looked so much like you, and we took you
kids to the march here in Seattle. And that just rocked my
world. That could have been you guys.
((NATS: children marching and chanting))
(Chant: I am Trayvon! I am Trayvon!))
((Locator: Denver, Colorado))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
I was adopted when I was two days old.
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mother))
We just wanted a baby that would be healthy that could be
ours legally and we did not care about skin color.
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
When I was four years old, we adopted my younger sister
Maya from a different biological family. She is my sister just
like my parents are my parents. I never really had the ability
to distinguish my skin color and how my skin color was
different from other folks around me, even my parents.
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mother))
When you are Caucasian parents, you may go into it thinking
on some level that you understand the concept of
colorblindness and superficially we were terrific. I mean, we
knew that it would be good to have a name identity that they
could relate to being black. Alex was named after Alex
English, an amazing Denver Nuggets basketball player who
is also a poet, and Maya was named after [writer and
activist] Maya Angelou. And we joined a group for
transracial adoptions and we bought the right kind of books
and with black characters but we didn’t understand what it’s
like to be black in America, what it’s like to grow up in a
transracial family. I did not understand about race. I was
totally naïve.
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
((Credit: Youtube, University of Denver Graduate School of
Social Work))
My name is Alex Landau and I appreciate everybody coming
out here this evening. I also am very thankful to be here. I
am a human right activist. I am a community member in the
Denver metropolitan area. I am a survivor of extreme police
abuse. I didn’t even fully understand their capabilities. I
assumed being out of handcuffs that I can have an
interaction with these law enforcement officers who were
searching through my '84 Lincoln Town Car. And to give you
a description, if you’ve seen 'The Godfather' it would be what
some people might consider a mobster mobile, very old, very
big body. I asked if I could see a warrant before they
continued searching my car.
((Chyron: Re-enactment))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
However, these officers immediately became irate and
began to punch me in the face.
((NATS: Alex Landau in the street where the beating
happened))
It’s like right in this area, facing underneath my car and I
could just feel the gun pressed to the side of my head. And
then, when I regained consciousness, they rolled me out by
my ankles and dragged me across the grass. And then let
me bleed on an officer's jacket until the paramedics arrived.
((NATS: Police cars))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
I almost bled out on the way to the hospital because I went
into hemorrhagic shock. And so, after the photos were
taken, I received 45 stitches. I was treated for a broken
nose, diagnosed for a concussion and later with a brain
injury.
((Maya Landau, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Sister))
I want you to know that, like, it affects me all the time. But
me, as a person, it’s hard for me to fully come up with the
words to just say, I’m so sorry for what you went through and
I should be more vocal and I am learning how to do that. I’m
learning how to be more outspoken.
((Patsy Hathaway, Alex Landau’s Adoptive Mom))
What I had to do after the assault was to begin to talk about
it and to fight for Alex.
((Photo Credit: Danielle Lirette))
And by fighting and speaking out, I began to lose friends and
immediate family members that I would talk about this stuff.
But it’s been worth it, because that’s what you do. If you
don’t talk, then you’re complicit. If you don’t fight racism,
then you’re complicit.
((NATS: Excerpts - "Mr. Officer,” Alex Landau))
((Courtesy: YouTube))
((Popup Banner: Landau settled a lawsuit with Denver City
for $795,000 in 2011 and two officers were fired))
((Alex Landau, Adoptee))
It’s made me colder and it’s made me bitter. There is a part
of me that has been permanently altered. I am a different
person because of that night and it totally changed the
trajectory of my life.
((NATS: Excerpts - "Mr. Officer,” Alex Landau))
((Courtesy: YouTube))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Origins
((SOT))
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
Finding my birth mom has helped me feel more whole.
((Deborah, Angela Tucker’s Birth Mother))
To be with you is a joy. That’s God's gift to me.
BREAK THREE
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten”
“They should not be protesting our president”
“They got what they asked for”
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
PROMO
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
We make a difference
When we unmask terror
When we explain the impossible
When we confront an uncertain future
When we give voice to the voiceless
The difference is Freedom of the Press
We are the Voice of America where
A Free Press Matters
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK D
((PKG)) ADOPTION 4 / ORIGINS
((Banner: Origins))
((Reporter: Claire Morin-Gibourg))
((Camera: Arzouma Kompaoré))
((Map: Seattle, Washington; Bellingham, Washington))
((NATS))
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Part of my life is like a mystery to me. One minute I was
born and I was with one family and the next minute I was
with a different one. So, sometimes I can feel, like, why did
this happen? And I don’t know how it happened. And I want
some of those questions to be answered.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
What other question would help you feel, like, more
complete if you knew the answer?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Like, were you sad when you had to give me up?
((Amy Bowton-Meade, Maggie’s Adoptive Mother))
Adopting a child of color has another layer of complexity and
concerns about her well-being. I have felt like I can’t be, I
can’t do enough or be enough. I can’t do it right or I’m not
the right person for her. Like, what was I thinking that I can
do this? How can I be so arrogant to think I could like, you
know, fulfill this role for her?
((Brett Bowton-Meade, Maggie’s Adoptive Father))
I have come to understand more over the years that
everyone is looking to figure out who they are. It’s about, it’s
about one’s identity and I think for adopted kids and
particularly transracially adoptee kids, they have to
continually work through their stories.
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
My birthday always is hard for me.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
It is? You think about that?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Yeah.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
You think about what she is doing on this day?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
And then seven weeks later I feel even more sad because
that was the day that I was adopted and the day that she
couldn’t take care of me anymore, so, sometimes I just feel
sad about that.
((NATS))
((NATS: Excerpts from documentary, “CLOSURE”))
((Popup Banner: Angela Tucker produced a documentary
about searching for her biological parents))
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
Finding my birth mom has helped me feel more whole.
((Deborah, Angela Tucker’s Birth Mother))
To be with you is a joy. That’s God's gift to me.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
I’m middle class and she is not. And so, I think that the
conversations are uniquely difficult with that with, like, a love
for each other, a serious connection but we live so
differently.
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
And then just seeing someone who looked just like me, my
birth dad, that was crazy.
((Teresa Burt, Angela Tucker’s Adoptive Mother))
It was hard for me to see it at first, because I felt like maybe
meeting her birth mother would kind of replace me. But
Angela’s interest in it was so deep, became so deep that it
helped me realize how important it was. And so, I think that
helped me change into, be part of it and to be excited about
it. And that was really freeing for me to be able to do that.
((David Burt, Angela Tucker’s Adoptive Father))
I got the joy of raising her from 1 through college. I couldn’t,
I wasn’t going to lose anything. I mean, you know, they’re
their own people. Children become their own people. And
because someone else may come into their life as an
important person and should, that does not have any impact
on my relationship.
((Angela Tucker, Director of Post-Adoption Services,
Amara))
The most common thing I hear from white parents raising
black kids is the fear that they won’t be able to raise their
child to have a full, healthy, black identity.
((Kristi Kilcher, Prospective Mother))
Yes, I feel like I’ve failed, and I don’t want to fail this child at
all. I want to be as good of a parent as I can be.
((Teresa Burt, Angela Tucker’s Adoptive Mother))
Yeah, I think the search has made her stronger. After doing
it, she can help others and is helping others with their
searches.
((Angela, with Maggie))
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
Do you think I feel sad, as an adult, having met my birth
parents?
((Maggie Bowton-Meade, Adoptee))
Maybe not as much anymore?
((Angela Tucker, Adoptee, Post-Adoption Mentor))
I feel less confused but the fact that my birth mother couldn’t
raise me is sad. And it’s not going to change.
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up next week…..
((Banner))
I Support the Girls
((SOT))
((NATS))
((Dana Marlow, I support the Girls))
So, we’re on our way today to do a donation to the National
Center for Children and Families, of bras and pads and
tampons. And I’m just gonna go down and load up
everything we have.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
SHOW ENDS
