Anna Mae He Case: "Anna Mae Goes to China"
Here's a long article about a major milestone in the Anna Mae He case. I wrote about my reaction to this case last year. My opinion of the Bakers is of course very, very negative. However, I'm glad to note that both families seem to be working together a bit, at least enough to preserve the positive relationship between their daughters.
I just want to note that the tone of the ABC News article is really over the top and offensive at several points. I know that Anna Mae will go through culture shock in China. I don't want to minimize that. But children move between countries all the time. I've certainly experienced it myself. Also, I don't see the news media engaging in this kind of emotional outpouring over the many 9-year-olds who are deported to Mexico after spending their entire lives in this country.
Take this passage:
The child's cultural roots are evident. She thinks Hannah Montana is cool (but can't tell you why); she skates around on retractable roller skate shoes, and at every opportunity, she pulls out her Game Boy. She likes to read, is a straight-A student, and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.
And how well she fares in her new home in China is the big question on the lips and in the hearts of everyone from her adoptive parents in Tennessee, to judges who have ruled on her case, social workers who have sought to monitor the transition, friends and family of both the Bakers and the Hes, and an international television audience.
First of all, I wouldn't grant the Bakers the title of "adoptive parents". And secondly, there is NOTHING on that list of "cultural roots", besides Hannah Montana, that is specifically American. A Game Boy? I guess only Americans are allowed to have those. They're such an important part of our cultural heritage! It's as if the writers of this piece expect that the day after landing in China, Anna Mae will be forcibly stripped of her American gear, issued a pointy hat and a bucket and sent out into the rice paddies for the rest of her life.
Foster Care System Perspectives
2 comments:
I'm a Chinese student living in China. I can't understand why you Americans always show your superiority by slander other countries.Can't you think for just one second before you speak? Or you are simply no more than "too innocent".
BTW, Game Boy is made in Japan, since when it turned to your cultural heritage? Surely Anna Mae He won't have a Game Boy in China, due to her parents will be too shame to buy her a Game Boy when other teenagers are playing PSP or NDSL.
I want to appologize for the insensitive americans who stupidly insult others in other countries. Not ALL americans are closed minded and uneducated. And i was thinking the same thing as the person who posted that they are a Chinese student living in China, Game Boy isnt an American based toy. My sincere prayers are with Anna Mae and her Biological Family. I watched them on the news and i would cry because i would see Anna Mae's biological mother and father in so much pain because they were being taken advantage of by the american foster parents. The american foster parents should be ashamed. The He's only wanted to make sure that their little girl would be taken care of temporarily, they didnt GIVE the american foster parents full permission to take anna mae for their own. I just hope that the He's are doing alright after that horrible earthquake there in china. Again, my prayers are with them.
Post a Comment