Shedding light on transracial adoption

Statistics sadly shows that young people from BME communities are three times more likely to be in care longer than white children.

Interestingly enough, when kids from a BME background are placed, many of them are welcomed into the home of white parents due to the lack of prospective Black or Asian adopted parents. Transracial adoption, although largely unheard of, is a reality for thousands of families in Britain today.

I, for one, have never met anyone who comes from a transracial background and much of the public discourse on the subject has been largely dominated by politicians and public officials. But a new play promises to take a deeper look into the topic.

'I am Marley' is said to be an informative, yet controversial drama that focuses on the issues surrounding transracial adoption, drawn from the true accounts of social workers, parents and a young Black woman who was adopted by a white family. This play goes over the topic of transracial adoption with a fine-tooth comb, expressing the voices of people who are at the heart the matter.

The drama play has been written by MA Drama student Aminata Kamara. Talking about how the idea came about, Kamara, who is also a hairstylist, reflects on a conversation she had with a customer, a black woman of African descent was raised by her white mother. Fascinated by the conversation, she decided to write a play about it and through further interviews with the customer and social workers, Kamara sought to understand the experience of those who grow up with parents who do not share their race and/or ethnicity.

She found that although many were raised in a loving and stable home, many felt out of place as they did not look like their parents and felt misunderstood by those they did look like. Many critics of transracial adoption appreciate that many who grow up in this situation tend to feel uneasy with their ‘blackness’ and other Black people.

Furthermore, Kamara puts forward the case that in a society which sees race first, white parents, no matter how understanding or well intentioned, cannot effectively equip BME children to navigate through society in this light.

But not every story is so grey, the interview with her customer describes a happy and loving childhood with her white mother who was active in their largely black community in London. She also introduced culture by learning how to cook African dishes, and added that even amongst her Black friends, her mum was well known to make the nicest rice dishes around.

Kamara though stresses what is of paramount importance is that a child should be placed in a loving stable home and maybe if the government invested more into ‘the family’, there would be no need for many children, black or white to be in care in the first place.

I am Marley, produced by Unidentified Drama, will be shown on Tuesday 20th March at The Y Theatre, 7 East Street, Leicester, LE1 6EY

Rhona Asmah