Discursive Entwinement: How Transracially Adoptive Parents Navigate Race

• In Event: 452 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 07. Race, Ethnicity, and Identity

Abstract

In this paper, we examine ways that White adoptive parents of children of color understand and address race. These parents may find themselves in unchartered territory, forced to make sense of a racial reality with which they have had little previous experience. We do so using data from in-depth interviews with parents (N=47), asking parents to recall ways their families have encountered race and also about ways that they talk about race with each other. Our findings show that, while parents use both colorblind and race conscious discourse, most do not adhere strictly to one frame or another. Rather, they move between frames, evoking both racial privilege and critical racial perspectives – sometimes in the same moment. This entwinement reflects not only the complexity of navigating the racial terrain within mixed-raced families, but also the continued difficulties of managing the current racial system.

Authors

• Carla Goar, Kent State University

• Bianca Manago, Indiana University