| Author | Message | ||
     Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2877 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
October 26, 2006 Trophy Baby Hunting in Malawi Madonna's African Safari By JENNIFER MATSUI Dear Madonna, You are no doubt dismayed by the public outrage that has greeted your decision to adopt a baby boy from Malawi--a country that most people in the West probably only know from the ad campaigns of charitable organizations showing sickly babies covered in flies, while being watched over by your former wedding guests, now sockless and stubbled with earnest three day beards. I imagine that you are shocked, truly shocked that anyone would question your decision to remove a child from such unimaginable suffering as Bono breathing down his crib. After all, what kind of person would condemn someone so young to a life of hardship, especially someone with millions at her disposal; a loving "mammy" who will tote her little Sambo around in a 1,200 thread count batik Snuggly specially designed for him by Tom Ford himself, and provide him with every consumer item under the less skin-damaging sun. Little David Banda is the luckiest boy in the world, you repeat to yourself 666 times a day while fiddling with your little red thread bracelet, because that's how every self-serving mantra eventually becomes truth. It's written in the Khabible. One minute little whats-his-name is languishing in a overcrowded, under funded orphanage in one of the poorest nations on earth, and the next minute he's soaring over the ocean in a private jet to make his new home on a palatial English estate, where he will be tended to by a complete staff of servants and diapered in monogrammed Pampers. You have even sweetened the deal with a complete DVD box set of 'The Lion King' so that he can immerse himself in African culture. That should shut up those annoying people who think removing a child from his own people and culture is somehow a bad thing, even if said culture hasn't yet invented pots to piss in. No stranger to criticism, you probably think the public backlash over your latest publicity stunt is just more sour grapes from the usual suspects, this time disguising themselves as human rights campaigners. And what exactly are they complaining about, anyway, you gripe at your husband, who is no stranger himself to your sudden fancies, whether its a decision to fire your interior decorator or take up the cause of philanthropy several decades after it became fashionable. "Angelina can eat my ashes!" you shriek when Guy suggests that the Jolie-Pitts have already claimed the title of 'Cookie' magazine's most beautiful baby shoppers--an honor you have coveted almost as much as an Oscar and an audience with the late Pope on his death bed. "A girl just can't get a break", you fume. "I mean, what IS the problem?" First, NBC edits out the part of your concert tour where you stand crucified on a 'lite brite' cross to prove you haven't quite "nailed" the cause of your dimming celebrity, and now they are on your ass about your latest Missoni (oops, I mean MISSION) to Africa. Here's the problem, Madonna. You swoop into Malawi with a yet to be signed cheque for $3 million, hoping that by pledging the money to an orphanage, the authorities will re-write the laws in your favor. "What laws"? you grumble to your husband when someone points out to you that your actions amount to kidnapping, even if a bribed official has given your crime the government stamp of approval. Someone in your entourage points out to you that under Malawi law, people hoping to adopt children must live in the country for at least eighteen months. "This dump doesn't even have flush toilets, what makes them think their laws mean shit"? you scream at him as he peers off into the distance hopefully, while silently praying that a pack of jackals comes along and tears you apart limb by limb, and dragging your still squawking head into the dense foliage encircling the camp to be pawed at and batted around by hungry hyena pups. Undaunted, you return to your tent and check yourself in the full length mirror you brought along for the occasion and make the final adjustments to your outfit. You told your stylist you wanted your look to be evocative of Africa's "glamorous" colonial era. "Think Marlene Dietrich meets King Kong at the opening of the Stork Club inside a smoking volcano". This is why you've chosen to dress like the trophy whore of a wealthy plantation owner. Your African hosts should really get a kick out of that. Even though you ended up being more Norma Desmond than Desmond Tutu, your low-cut jungle green Versace wrap around dress and safari hat complimented your caked on alabaster complexion quite nicely. You managed to achieve the look of a former "blimey" spewing bar wench, plucked from obscurity by a visiting adventurer from the "Dark Continent" looking for a piece of tail to compliment his collection of rhino heads. Your new look is reminiscent of someone who spends her days in the shade, reading romance novels and shooting the occasional elephant before heading out for cocktails at the club. But I guess we should be grateful that you left the rollerskates and the ghetto blaster at home. After a hard day at the orphanage, choosing a baby that will compliment that wonderful hand woven bag you picked up in the market earlier, you decide it's time to celebrate. With the entire International press corps surrounding you, you seize the chance to make a video for your next dance hit. A word of advice: You should probably edit out the part where your unpaid African back up dancers look on in bewilderment and embarrassment as your frantic pogo-ing recounts the age old story about the evil sorceress with fire ants in her pants. In the clamor and excitement of the festivities no one noticed as you discreetly handed over the little "orphan" to your assistant, who boarded him into your private jet and spirited him away before the ink is dried on the adoption papers. You insist on calling him an orphan, even though is father is very much alive, but temporarily, at least, unable to raise his son, owing to the tragically, all too familiar circumstances of his life. The death of his wife has left him a bereft and impoverished widower with no other choice but to relinquish custody of his son until he is able to get back on his feet. For considerably less than what you paid for David, you could have given him at least that opportunity. If you had maybe read something more relevant to the topic of global poverty than 'Cookie' magazine's top ten list of lucky celebrity orphans, you might have discovered that the wealth you endlessly accumulate, and the system that makes it possible for you to lavish such largesse upon your latest self-improvement project at the expense of people like Yohane Banda, is responsible in large part for Mr Banda's inability to feed a child on his non-existent earnings as a farmer. Not surprisingly, you have chosen to overlook that particular aspect of your new child's life and legacy, wilfully ignoring the bigger picture here in order to clutch a small black child at your breast in a homage to your own brand name. So now Mr Banda is left to deal with his most recent loss, cast aside like last season's Prada bag, and realizing only too late that he has signed away his past and future to a new colonial master, using the same tactics as the previous ones to seize another nation's assets under the cover of legality and consent. Having being told that the "nice" American lady would provide his son with an education and raise him until he was ready to return to his homeland, Mr Banda signed on the dotted line. Since Mr Banda can neither read or write, there was no way his consent should be considered legal or binding. Clearly, he was misled by orphanage officials in order to speed up the process of your fly-by "adoption". But naturally, you blame all the negative publicity on the media, whom you accuse of manipulating Mr Banda to give false and conflicting accounts of the abduction of his son. Acting on your publicist's advice, you brought your case to the American public on 'Oprah', hoping the African American billionaire talk show host would give you her own official stamp of approval, and a sob sistah shoulder to cry on. No stranger to disastrous shopping expeditions, your new friend, Oprah™ knows first hand the woes of trying to get one's hands on a coveted consumer item and being told by the staff at Hermes that she would have to wait until the following day to make her purchase. Unfortunately, Oprah used the obvious racist slight on her spending power to highlight the astonishing inability of French saleswoman to recognize her as a global brand phenomenon, rather than use her own first hand experience of France's institutionalized racism to enlighten her viewers to the worsening plight of France's non-white immigrant populations. The fact that she was taken for a North African (quelle horreur!) by a Hermes staffer and therefore denied access to the store for after hours shopping didn't offend her principles, only her vanity. Imagine confusing the elegantly coiffed icon of American media with a lowly Berber shoplifter. The 'gaul' of some people". There is a similar disconnect in your aggrieved sense of injustice, too, Madonna. You present yourself as the victim of a media smear campaign, a misunderstood philanthropist, unfairly maligned by hostile forces who will stop at nothing to bring you and your butt munching bodysuit hemlines down a notch. No match for Oprah, or the global media juggernaut camped out in his goat pen, Mr Banda is forced to reconsider his options and has "agreed" to relinquish custody of his son to your permanent care. Congratulations. The war on the poor rages on, but you've won your own personal battle, and even have the "trophy" to prove it. I just hope the next time you are looking to something to adopt, you might consider a more humane and less self-serving world view. Jennifer Matsui can be reached at: jenmatsui@hotmail.com | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5641 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Well, nobody's perfect. I still say, since she's in it for the long haul, whether Madonna is a good mother or not remains to be seen. Butt out, Jennifer Matsui. Go worry about the orphans who aren't being adopted and given a chance to thrive. You, like Madonna, are manipulating the media to make Madonna your trophy in the contest to see who can besmirch and ridicule her the most. Get a life. Or go adopt an orphan of your own. | ||
| Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2880 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
She could adopt you. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5643 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Or you, you poor needy neglected slob. | ||
| Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2882 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
I don't need parents right now. You apparently do. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5645 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
And just why don't you need parents right now, you poor needy neglected slob??? | ||
| Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2884 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
Because I couldn't bear for them to have to read your pathetic posts. May they rest in peace. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5646 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Fess up, you're really ashamed for them to see what a needy neglected slob they spawned. | ||
| Mzuri "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Mzuri Post Number: 2009 Registered: 01-2006 Rating: N/A |
Look you two!!! Chicago and St Louis are only 297 miles apart. So the two of you need to find a rendezvous spot about halfway in between those two locations, get together and have your damn assignation and be done with it. As much as y'all argue I swear you have GOT to be in LOVE!!! | ||
| Mzuri "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Mzuri Post Number: 2010 Registered: 01-2006 Rating: N/A |
 | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5647 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Others have tried to concoct that scenario, Mzuri, but it's not authentic. As I have previously alluded to, chrishayden and I used to have an uneasy truce, with him even claiming me as his "road dog" but familiarity often breeds comtempt and the more I became acquainted with how he is, the more turned off I got. Bottom line; I don't like him. Sorry. | ||
| Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2888 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
She loves my funky drawers. | ||
| Mzuri "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Mzuri Post Number: 2011 Registered: 01-2006 Rating: N/A |
Don't be so narrow minded. Chris packs ¼ ton (500 lbs) of fun. You never know he might could rock your world! Or knock your socks off! | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5650 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
You really can't deal with rejection can you, chrishayden? That's one of the many reasons why I find you so obnoxious. But dream on. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5651 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I'll take a pass, Mzuri. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz | ||
| Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2901 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
Will you take a pass, or will you take a Chris? | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5660 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Even if I was in the market for someone, you'd be the last thing on earth I'd consider, chrishayden. You could never be the object of fulfilled fantasies. | ||
| Chrishayden AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 2908 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
No, I am the object of your unfulfilled ones. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5665 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
The only thing you are the object of is my pity. It's becoming increasingly apparent what a sad creature you are. Poor ol thing. | ||
| Msprissy Regular Poster Username: Msprissy Post Number: 57 Registered: 03-2006 Rating: N/A |
I'm passing on an opinion of an African American columnist, not passing judgment one way or the other on her opinion. Mary Mitchel writes for the Chicago Sun-Times and her column received many emails for and against her opinion, not as much against the adoption. I believe that any attention that shines the light on AIDS in Africa and the loss of life has one good point on its side. This child may have been given a chance at life and may even grow up to give back to his people. Only God knows the reason for all this babel. mem Madonna's adoption Mitchell Column: Madonna's adoption plays shamefully clear in black, white October 26, 2006 BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist I want to be happy about Madonna. I really do. But the truth is, I can't be happy about Madonna's decision to adopt a 13-month-old Malawian boy because it shames me, and I suspect that deep down inside, it shames the people who are making the most fuss about the adoption. After all, how many of us knew a country called Malawi existed before this? But Madonna's Raising Malawi charity funds six orphanages there and is setting up an orphanage that will care for 4,000 children near the country's capital. I've traveled to Africa three times, and I haven't spent the amount of time with AIDS orphans that Madonna has spent. Nor did I feel compelled to rescue a David Banda -- the birth name of the Malawian boy the singer intends to adopt -- from the harsh reality he was born into. So I can't criticize someone else for wanting to take that child away from the disease and suffering that continues to claim so many of Africa's children. Still, in turning to Africa to adopt a child, Madonna has opened the old wounds of slavery and colonialism. That's what the fallout is really all about. AIDS stigma still powerful The allegation by human rights groups that the Malawian government allowed Madonna to flout that country's strict regulations governing adoption because of her celebrity status and wealth is merely a smoke screen. Not even the well-to-do can afford to drop out of their lives for 18 months so they can adopt a child. The groups might as well say it -- they don't want white foreigners to adopt African children. Does anyone really believe that had Oprah Winfrey, an African American, gone to Malawi and wanted to adopt a child, she would have been required to live in the country for a year and a half? Or that the media and human rights groups would have hounded her all the way back to America with ridiculous questions about her motives? Madonna told Oprah via satellite TV that she was "stunned" by the negative publicity that greeted her when she returned home. "I'm disappointed because, more than anything, it discourages other people from doing the same thing," she said. "I feel the media is doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa, period, not just the orphans of Malawi," she told Oprah. The show's mostly white audience applauded. And why wouldn't they? To their way of thinking, before Madonna showed up, David was languishing under a slow death sentence. The child has already survived tuberculosis and pneumonia. His 28-year-old mother, Marita Banda, died a week after his birth, and two siblings died in infancy from malaria -- according to published reports out of Malawi. Although the reports claim the mother and children died of AIDS, the disease isn't mentioned in most reports prepared in Malawi, which goes to show that the stigma surrounding AIDS deaths in Africa is as strong as ever. After his wife's death, David's father, Yohane Banda, left his son in an orphanage and went back to living out his hard life as a farmer. He was quoted initially in the media as wanting the adoption and blasting the human rights groups that were critical. "I was alone with a baby. I had no money. I couldn't buy him milk. That's why I surrendered him to the orphanage," he said. "Where were these people when David was struggling in the orphanage? These so-called human rights groups should leave my baby alone. As father, I have OK'd this. I have no problem. The village has no problem." Now, however, Banda says he did not understand the adoption meant he would give up custody of his son for good, although he has not demanded that Madonna return the baby to the Malawian orphanage. Need to save African children It isn't surprising that Banda is trying to cover his shame. In a perfect world, Madonna would indeed be applauded for adopting a child from AIDS-ravaged Africa -- as Oprah did at the end of her interview. But this is not a perfect world. Many of us are still uncomfortable with the reality that rich white people can go to Africa -- or to the ghetto, for that matter -- and pluck up a poor child, even when that person is well-meaning. Despite their hardships, the people who live in such environments still have a sense of community. It is how so many of them have managed to survive. If adoption becomes the only way to save an African child -- what, then, will become of Africa? The fear of creating a new Black Diaspora is driving the Madonna furor. So, while her adoption of a baby from Malawi should be a gift of joy, for Africa, these adoptions also bring tears of shame. Posted by Mary Mitchell on October 26, 2006 01:33 PM | Permalink | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6758 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Msprissy, I agree with Mitchell: Much of the criticism of what Madonna has done has LESS to do with her having done anything wrong (which she has NOT) and MORE to do with SHAME that Africans and Black foks as a whole feel about Africans and Black foks as whole not being capable of or willing to take care of their own. | ||
| Ntfs_encryption "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Ntfs_encryption Post Number: 1082 Registered: 10-2005 Rating: N/A |
"I agree with Mitchell: Much of the criticism of what Madonna has done has LESS to do with her having done anything wrong (which she has NOT) and MORE to do with SHAME that Africans and Black foks as a whole feel about Africans and Black foks as whole not being capable of or willing to take care of their own." Bulls eye! Give the brother a cupie doll! Dead on the money. You are absolutely right, it has nothing to do with Madonna. She has done nothing wrong. The woman is bringing the dreaded spot light onto a staggering problem in Africa -the inability of black Africans to feed their people, massive starvation, rampant disease and the endless cycle of brutal civil wars, despotic leaders, tribal warfare and genocide. There is nothing these people can offer this child that will compare with the life she can give him. The Africans along with indignant American Negroes are sticking out their lips in indignation and embarrassment that this white women would dare to adopt a child and offer him a life they cannot. What a ruse. Your comment is painful but irrefutable and factual. But I'm sure some enraged Negro on this board will attempt to retaliate with a feeble emotion driven rant that has no links to reality. E'nuff said.... | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5687 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I think Yvette, who is doing her PHD dissertation on the subject of adoption, has reminded that there are international guide lines for adopting foreign children. That seems to be the chief concern of the white objectors who feel that Madonna circumvented these statutes. | ||
| Yvettep Veteran Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 1385 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: |
I don't know about being an "enraged Negro," Ntfs, but I do not uncritically buy into the "child savior" view some others ("Negro" and otherwise) love to attribute to celebrities going throughout developing nations in order to build their families. I applaud Madonna's, Jolie's, Oprah's and others' efforts to assist Africa. I applaud writers like the one above who wish to explore their and perhaps our (Black people's) collective guilt about the state of Black America and Black Africa. But that does not change the fact that private solutions can never be a match for public problems. You're right Cynique, part of what I am concerned about is that people do not seem to be aware that there are international human rights and children's rights mechanisms in place to help insure that adoptions across borders are done in ways that respect and protect children, families and nations. (Cynique: But, btw, you are wrong that I am doing my dissertation on adoption--I finished that bad boy last month and gradumacate this December! LOL!) | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6760 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Yvettep, What "public" institutions can and should rescue poor, suffering Malawanians children? And should Madonna, because she's WHITE, be made to WAIT until their benevolence manifest and lead the way? I mean. I'm all for respecting Malawian and international (whatever the hell THAT is from one year to the next) laws and customs. But I can't help wondering how those criteria help CAUSE the very problems we decry. | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6761 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: |
Ntfs, The issue is not whether or not Madonna should be able to adopt a Black (Asian, Hispanic or Eskimo) kid. Because, honestly, I find it utterly RIDICULOUS to use race to deny this child the opportunity to trade its (probably SHORT) Malawian life for that which Madonna can offer it. There's A LOT of foolish, misplaced pride amongst Black foks. It prevails amongst Africans and the Black Diaspora. We're so overwhelmed by the denial of our defeat to and conquest by the European that it distorts our ability to clearly see and act to our benefit. | ||
| Ntfs_encryption "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Ntfs_encryption Post Number: 1084 Registered: 10-2005 Rating: N/A |
”I think Yvette, who is doing her PHD dissertation on the subject of adoption, has reminded that there are international guide lines for adopting foreign children. That seems to be the chief concern of the white objectors who feel that Madonna circumvented these statutes.” Perhaps so. And I respect that. But the overall promising life that can be offered to these children is primary to me. Not to be harsh or overly critical, but it is very obvious many of these countries are awash in abject massive poverty, disease , illiteracy, famine and senseless wars. To be honest, I could care less about these entangling rules. It is the life possibilities the children will have access to, not the bureaucratic racially politically correct bean counters who do nothing but make restrictive guidelines and rules as hurtles to those who sincerely want to help these children. The individuals in these so called entities who make these rules are not going to save nor adopt these children from the wretched life they face! They are more concerned with establishing restrictive so called guidelines for their own bureaucratic egos. If they didn't, they would make it easier and encourage people who are willing to step up to the plate and give these children a life their parents and native countries cannot offer them. I'm not suggesting a grab bag policy of Wal-Mart shopping for children, but I cannot see the interest of the child being served by self serving bureaucratic obstructionists. I’m just sorry there are not more Josephine Bakers! ”I don't know about being an "enraged Negro," Ntfs, but I do not uncritically buy into the "child savior" view some others ("Negro" and otherwise) love to attribute to celebrities going throughout developing nations in order to build their families. “ No Yvette, I do not consider you part of that ilk. But build whose family? The celebrities or well off individuals? The black Africans? Many of the black Africans can barely maintain the most subsistent level of surviving! We all know that adopting African children is not a cure nor even a possibility for bringing a semblance of what we would consider a decent life with education, health benefits and security. But it is an individual effort that should be applauded. ”I applaud Madonna's, Jolie's, Oprah's and others' efforts to assist Africa. I applaud writers like the one above who wish to explore their and perhaps our (Black people's) collective guilt about the state of Black America and Black Africa. “ Of course it is guilt! That is why American black children are at the top of the list for orphaned children without families! NO ONE WANTS THEM! Black Americans are doing absolutely nothing about the children they produce and leave to be warehoused! White families in Canada and the US are stepping forward and adopting black children that American blacks do not want and do nothing about other than pout and arrogantly spew maudlin the race card rhetoric. WHY ARE BLACK AFRICANS AND AMERICANS NOT PROTECTING AND SECURING THE WELL BEING OF THEIR OWN ORPANS AND IMPVEROSHED CHILDREN??? ”But that does not change the fact that private solutions can never be a match for public problems.” This is true. But I do not concern myself with that since that particular problem is not going to be addressed or solved in your life time or that of your children. My concern is for those very few who have the chance at a possible better life their so called people cannot or will not provide for them. ”(Cynique: But, btw, you are wrong that I am doing my dissertation on adoption--I finished that bad boy last month and gradumacate this December! LOL!)” Congratulations! What was your dissertation about? What do you plan to do next? I'm very glad for you. I'm sure you worked very hard to accomplish this goal. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5688 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
DCFS is bursting at the seams with unwanted black children, because birth control is not a way of life among the underclasses and this contributes to indiscriminate breeding. But, still, any suggestion of regulating reproduction with such deterrents as reversable sterility vacccines, is tainted with the specter of genocide, the fear being that intrinsic in such restrictions is the question of just who is to decide who should be allowed to have children. But, to me, it should be fairly obvious that "babies" of any race should not be having babies. In any case, I have tossed the dilemma of unwanted black children into the pile of problems that have no solutions. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 5689 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Congratulations, Yvette! And I having de ja vu because seems like I did congratulate you on this great accomplishment before, - doctor. | ||
| Ntfs_encryption "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Ntfs_encryption Post Number: 1085 Registered: 10-2005 Rating: N/A |
"DCFS is bursting at the seams with unwanted black children, because birth control is not a way of life among the underclasses and this contributes to indiscriminate breeding." Sigh.....this is so true. The reckless lifestyle of an unfortunate number of the black underclass, is the major driving force for their self inflected problems and pathology. I have two friends who work in the trenches of the black underclass and the stories they have to tell are horrific and defy anything resembling common sense or intelligence. The behavior of many of the black underclass can never be justified nor intelligently explained under any circumstances. But as you have suggested, there is nothing that is going to change any of this any time soon -at least not in our life time. | ||
| Yvettep Veteran Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 1386 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: |
Thanks, all. So far, just about the only folks who call me "doctor" are my parents--But at least it is done. My dissertation research was on adoptive mothers' beliefs about genetics. It will eventually be available at a dissertation abstracting service near you--maybe I'll get Troy to link to it from aalbc! LOL! Right now I am working as a "postdoctoral researcher"--kind of betwixt and between a "real" faculty position! On topic: There are many many reasons why the US child welfare system is full of black and brown children but it has very little to do with them not being "wanted." You'd think I was on Dorothy Roberts' payroll or something the way I keep encouraging folks to read her work on the subject, but read her work on the subject! On the international front, transnational adoption in the context of such issues as children's rights and welfare, poverty, joblessness, educational access, war and civil unrest (often with overt or covert participation by our country), health care costs, histories of colonialism (and worse), etc. etc., are all related and incredibly complex. And though international treaties on these topics seem to be receiving a dim view on this board, they are very much needed to protect against the kinds of abuses that can happen when poor countries realize the large sources of income that can accrue from the adoption business. But to each his own. Some choose to focus on the better lives offered to individual children. It is very hard to change this kind of view towards one that requires ongoing, extensive efforts at real systemic change. Instead, these kind of changes are continually seen as too large and intractible, furthering the belief that only sporadic, stop-gap measures that "save" a few are realistic. | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6762 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Yvettep, Allowing Madonna to adopt that kid and promoting the overall betterment of Malawi(and Africa) are NOT mutually-exclusive objectives. I mean, really. How MANY African children will be adopted by Whites within a given year? .01%...at best? Is THAT going to destroy familial and communal structure and fortunes of Malawi (and Africa)? I do NOT think so. | ||
| Ntfs_encryption "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Ntfs_encryption Post Number: 1092 Registered: 10-2005 Rating: N/A |
"On the international front, transnational adoption in the context of such issues as children's rights and welfare, poverty, joblessness, educational access, war and civil unrest.........they are very much needed to protect against the kinds of abuses that can happen when poor countries realize the large sources of income that can accrue from the adoption business." Ms. Yvettep, we realize and know this! I agree with you that there must be standards for adopting children. No argument there. But the bureaucratic wrangling and red tape compounded with PC race politics is all together a different issue. "But to each his own. Some choose to focus on the better lives offered to individual children. It is very hard to change........continually seen as too large and intractible, furthering the belief that only sporadic, stop-gap measures that "save" a few are realistic." Again, I don't think we are in disagreement with strict guidelines for the safety of the child. But this excessive and unnecessary wrangling as I have suggested is too much. And yes, I am very aware that unfortunately, the overwhelmingly majority of these children will grow up and live their lives out in extreme poverty, wars, disease and the worst of human suffering. But those very few that can be saved by sincere adoptive parents should be give the most expedient attention and processing albeit the politics and bureaucratic red tape. "I mean, really. How MANY African children will be adopted by Whites within a given year? .01%...at best?" This is true. "Is THAT going to destroy familial and communal structure and fortunes of Malawi (and Africa)?" No, it won't. Since they the Africans are incapable of fending for these children, why are they baulking and shrieking with indignation that someone else is willing to do so? Only a tiny fraction of the massive orphaned black African children will be given the opportunity for a better life. Why interfere with that possibly for no other reason than race PC politics? Who is the real loser in this frivolous war of stonewalling and propaganda? |
