Outlandish Remarks

New Statement by Adoptees of Color on Haiti outlandishremarks | January 25, 2010 at 12:53 pm | Categories: Uncategorized, activism, adoptee rights, adoption, agencies, anger, colonization, forced assimilation, industry, orphans, paternalism, race | URL: http://wp.me/pzswe-4w

Please read this powerful Statement on Haiti released by the Adoptees of Color Roundtable:

We are domestic and international adoptees with many years of research and both personal and professional experience in adoption studies and activism. We are a community of scholars, activists, professors, artists, lawyers, social workers and health care workers who speak with the knowledge that North Americans and Europeans are lining up to adopt the “orphaned children” of the Haitian earthquake, and who feel compelled to voice our opinion about what it means to be “saved” or “rescued” through adoption.

I am proud to be part of this fierce community of adoptee of color activists. We have been silenced and spoken for by adoptive parents, adoption agencies, social scientists, and government officials, and when we do speak we are chastised for being "ungrateful." It is crucial that we speak out now with a collective voice as the clamor to "save the orphaned children of Haiti" rises.

We offer this statement in solidarity with the people of Haiti and with all those who are seeking ways to intentionally support the long-term sustainability and self-determination of the Haitian people. As adoptees of color we bear a unique understanding of the trauma, and the sense of loss and abandonment that are part of the adoptee experience, and we demand that our voices be heard. All adoptions from Haiti must be stopped and all efforts to help children be refocused on giving aid to organizations working toward family reunification and caring for children in their own communities. We urge you to join us in supporting Haitian children’s rights to life, survival, and development within their own families and communities.

Please contact the Adoptees of Color Roundtable by leaving a comment on the statement page if you would like to endorse this statement, and keep checking back as the site will soon be expanded.

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