The Harts and race

From the Washington Post:

But we cannot separate the dynamics of the Hart family tragedy from the realities of racism in this country. For the Harts, it seems likely that their whiteness netted them multiple passes despite all the warning signs. When a 12-year-old girl who looked as if she was 7 showed up at Bruce DeKalb’s door with missing teeth, he simply thought, “that was a little weird.”

This isn’t to demonize transracial adoption but, rather, to point out the dangers of the notion that black children must be saved and that becoming a white adoptive parent is inherently a sign of kindness and benevolence. This narrative turns black children into symbols, evidence of progressiveness used to feed the illusion that this nation isn’t racist, and that love is the express route to equality and justice.

Read the article.