Every child of color experiences racism. It may be overt, prejudicial racism like name calling or it may be more subtle, experienced through social nuances that are felt but unseen. It’s often both. And, for adoptive parent and adoptee alike, seeing racism for what it is can be difficult. Talking about it is even tougher.

Racism is real and it happens. Yes, even today, even in your community. Often adoptees don’t talk about it because they don’t have the language to accurately describe what happened; they may not even know that what happened was racism. Or they may avoid talking about it because they were frustrated by a previous situation where they felt you just “didn’t get it”.