Weaving a Family: Untangling Race and Adoption

by Barbara Katz Rothman

Book Overview

Weaving together the sociological, the historical, and the personal, Barbara Katz Rothman looks at the contemporary American family through the lens of race, race through the lens of adoption, and all-race, family, and adoption-within the context of the changing meanings of motherhood.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807028304
• ISBN13: 9780807028308
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

worth a read, but not very helpful

This book is well worth a read, but I had hoped for something different/ something more. As a foster parent (hopefully adoptive parent) of a black child, I was looking for practical advice through a sociology perspective. Instead, I got a slice of history about interracial adoption and some sociological commentary. There was, however, a bit of advice. It was implied and not explicit. But it really wasn't all that helpful. For example, it could be boiled down to these simple things: a) make friends with black people and get your kid involved in the black community b) learn how to do hair or find someone who does c) racism exists so prepare your child for it Again, the book is worth a read because of the sociological perspective, but it probably won't make you much of a better parent.

Scholarly, Personal, and Lyrical: Great Read

You don't have to be either a sociologist or parent to find Weaving a Family a compelling read. Clear-eyed and unafraid, grounded in racial reality, Barbara Katz Rothman takes on some of the biggest issues in our society. Whole chapters are devoted to such topics as race labels and what they mean, motherhood and how it has changed in the last two generations, race matching in the adoption process, and the issues facing white women raising black children. The centerpiece chapter, and the one that dictates the overarching metaphor of the book, is "Hair: Braiding Together Culture, Identity, and Entitlement." In this serious, sometimes humorous, and totally human chapter, Rothman recollects her acculturation into the African American community through her efforts to learn to care for her daughter's tight, curly hair. More than anything, learning to braid her daughter's hair helped Rothman gain respect among members of a "new" peer group, (mostly black) women mothering black children. Given all its candor and insights, Weaving a Family is still most remarkable for Rothman's guiding voice. It is down-home, wise, and sometimes lyrical, as when she writes: "Victoria and I, a child and her mother, are at the bottom of a long strange funnel. There is the Eastern European anti-Semitism that brought my great grandparents to New York, where the confrontation with American racism bleached out their Semitic race and made my family white. Victoria got to where she is via the slave trade to the American South, and the Great Migration to the Northeast. . . . Ours is one story. But there are lots of families like mine."

Essential Reading for Transracial Adoptions

As a recent adoptive (white) parent of an African-American infant girl, I found Barbara Katz Rothman's book, Weaving a Family, to be a godsend. In down-to-earth prose, but with the incisive thinking of the sociologist that she is, Katz Rothman takes a bold look at the complexities underlying her own transracial adoption (of her now-15-year-old daughter, Victoria, whom she adopted as an infant) and the phenomenon of transracial adoption in America today. While feeling no less her daughter's mother, she fearlessly explores and exposes the cultural ironies of transracial adoption, and the privilege and responsibility that imposes on those who enter such relationships. This should be required reading for prospective parents considering transracial adoption. On one level, it's an easy read; the writing is magnificent. On another--the emotional level--it can be tough going, but absolutely necessary if the children of transracial adoptions are going to be well served by the arrangement, and by their families. Top rate...

Finally, a smart book about race and adoption

Rothman skillfully weaves the knowledge of an academic with the passion of an adoptive parent in this marvellous book. This book is wise, personal, well researched, and often hilarious. Unlike many stories of adoptive parents, its never sappy. It sheds new light on the complicated questions of race and adoption; how white parents and black children fare with each other. Any one interested in adoption and contemporary race politics should read this.