Adoption rules: Letter to Michael Gove

Education Secretary: Adoption race rules scrapped

Dear Micheal Gove

In adoption culture really matters.

Sadly, the present  adoption debate offers more heat than light, however,  the Guardian's Afua Hirsh gives some clarity to the issue in her Guardian article.

It is unfortunate that the Government's crude articulation - there is no good reason why a Black child in care should not be placed with a white family - doesn't even begin to understand the racialised world we live in, that all too often ignores a globalised  'white privilege status'.

For example,  in general a poorly  educated  white person can go to the four corners of the globe - Africa, China, the Americas and the Asian sub-continent, and they will generally be met with courtesy, hospitality, and at times deference.

In sharp contrast, generally speaking, an educated African, arriving in the UK, the USA or mainland Europe too often finds discourtesy, indifference and at times open hostility. Black parents arre uniquely placed to help their children navigate through this cultural-political minefield with self confidence and self worth.

My own view is that if white families are to adopt Black or mixed heritage children - and I'm still not entirely convinced - then they need to show how they understand these racial dynamics with a clear demonstration as to how they might mitigate their own and society's euro-centric world view.

If those seeking to adopt fail to understand these racial dynamics, they might save the child from care homes but will almost certainly leave the child with either a confused and disjointed sense of belonging or at worst a life long feeling of self hatred.

Simon Woolley