This will be my last poem from Arnold Adoff’s book “All the Colors of the Race” that I featured a couple of days ago. There are many more great poems in the book–buy it
We are talking about
by Arnold Adoff
We are talking about
the ones who pick their friends
because of how black they act
or
because of how white they can
be.
Sometimes blackness seems too black for me,
and whiteness is too sickly pale;
and I wish every
one were golden from
the
sun.
Golden from the
inside
out.
Here’s another great poem from Arnold Adoff that was in the book All the Colors of the Race
On my applications
by Arnold Adoff
On my applications I can
put:
this girl:
a black,
white,
Christian,
Jewish,
young
woman:
student,
musician,
singer,
dancer,
runner in the middle distance races,
is willing to help you
if you take her as she
is.
I have been privileged to do some diversity training with families who have adopted transracially. One activity that I have seen agencies use is called “Your World, My World”. I have seen the activity used with beads that in the shades of people.
Instructions:
Give each family a clear plastic cup. Assign a race to each color of bead (i.e. caucasian/white, african/african american/black, asian/yellow, middle eastern/native american/biracial/brown, etc.).
Ask parents to place a bead of the respective color in the cup for:
Look at your cup and get a clear understanding of the world your child will enter. Understand that you have the opportunity and responsibility to surround your child with a diverse array of positive role models.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
MultiracialFamily.net 