Lawrence Adams, author of Lost Son? A Bastard Child's Journey of Hope, Search, Discovery and Healing, now has a blog called "Reflections of a Foster Youth". I've seen his posts on message boards before, and he has an amazing life story and a lot of insight into the foster care system. Check out this introduction post and this post on foster parents.
Foster Care System Perspectives Blogs on Adoption from the Foster Care System Blogs on Adoption and African-Americans Blogs on Adoption and Asian-Americans Asian Links Other Adoption Resources and/or Blogs Adoption Forums Adoption Reform Local Stuff Some Favorites: Politics, Feminism, Race and Culture, Humor, Misc.
"Rising to the defense of their country, by the thousands they came - these young Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii, the states, America's concentration camps - to fight in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. Looked upon with suspicion, set apart and deprived of their constitutional rights, they nevertheless remained steadfast and served with indomitable spirit and uncommon valor, for theirs was a fight to prove loyalty. This legacy will serve as a sobering reminder that never again shall any group be denied liberty and the rights of citizenship." - Go For Broke Monument, Los Angeles, CaliforniaOther Colors: "The first anti-miscegenation law, barring marriage between whites and blacks, was passed in Maryland in 1661. By the nineteenth century, such laws had been enacted in most states. In 1880, California passed a law prohibiting the issuing of licenses for marriage between any white persona and a 'Negro, mulatto, or Mongolian.' ... Aimed at the Chinese, the law was supported by the likes of John F. Miller, who said in 1878, 'Were the Chinese to amalgamate at all with our people... the result of that amalgamation would be…a mongrel of the most detestable that has ever afflicted the earth.' In 1909, California specifically added the Japanese to the list."
[np / cb / so]
2 comments:
Who ARE the foster parents who make a child feel like "just a foster child, anyway"? This breaks my heart, as we have had kids do HATEFUL things, when we provide beautifully decorated rooms for boys or girls, stocked with neat "kid gear" for little kids and teens, buy new clothes, shoes, bikes, duffels, backpacks, sports equipment, art supplies . . . only to have plaster and windows broken, wallpaper peeled, beds destroyed, toys demolished, bikes left unlocked at a public pool and stolen,(and the child said, "I didn't like that bike, anyway") new shoes and clothes unworn, in favor of ill-fitting and scruffy ones they came with, and items stolen from us, from stores or from visiting grandchildren. In a "just world", it should be arranged for "bad" foster parents to get the "bad" kids. (Sigh . . . .)
I'd have to strongly disagree with you... I think that just because kids destroy stuff doesn't make them "bad". We had training where they explained that that was perfectly logical behavior from the point of view of a child who had never been taught to value possessions. Why should they value something when they're just going to be moved next week anyway?
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