Revealing Racism: Rhetoric in Scientific Literature on Transracial Adoption (2012)

Undergraduate: Vibeka Mikkelsen

Faculty Advisor: Jordan Jack
Department: Biology

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In the past four decades, the ideal adoption scenario has presumed that a child should be placed with same-race parents. Scientific research and professional analysis on the topic often argues that transracial adoption is less desirable because the child will have difficulty forming their "racial identity". However, the emotions, bias and cultural movements that inform this opinion are often not explicitly explored; thus, the burden of this analysis rests on a close reading of researchers' rhetoric. Drawing upon the work of other rhetoricans who have illuminated the subtleties of the scientific author's voice to reveal how their assumptions shape their discourse, this researcher found that transracial adoption literature carries a bias towards same race adoption. If this bias sways research and opinions, the consequences could be devastating to the children in the United States foster care system. Since white parents are more frequently looking to adopt and adoptive children are more likely to be nonwhite, discouraging transracial adoption through perpetuating transracial adoption as less than ideal could result in fewer homes for children in need.