Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168263 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 405 pages

Customer Reviews

Badly-edited, offensive tripe.
Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall, Inside Transracial Adoption (Perspectives Press, 2000)

The more books I encounter from Perspectives Press (and as my wife and I are in the process of adopting a child, I've been seeing a lot of them over the past six months or so), the more I wonder if it's not a vertical-market vanity press. Inside Transracial Adoption is just the latest link in the chain. The editing and proofreading, if any were done, were shoddy, making the book even tougher to read than its subject matter would dictate, which is a vanity press hallmark. That, and I can't remember the last time I said this about bad proofreading, is the least of the book's problems.

While the title and cover photos might lead you to believe that the book is a general primer for anyone adopting a child of a different race, once you actually start reading, it becomes obvious that the book was written specifically for white people adopting non-white people. It's pretty dangerous territory if the authors have any sort of ulterior agenda, and that they do also becomes obvious pretty quickly. Where there is an agenda, a fertile breeding ground, and a lack of editorial input, logical fallacies are sure to sprout. And here we get to the heart of the problem. There are enough straw men in this book to scare away every crow presently living on the planet. "White is right, Asians are the model minority (almost like white.) [sic] If you're brown, get down, if you're black, step back." (44) is not the type of verbiage one expects to find in a manual about adoption, and the idea that it's promoting-- institutionalized racism in "popular culture and music"-- is simply ludicrous. Take a quick look at Billboard's top 20 albums and singles for any of the last twenty years or so and we'll talk about white privilege. (Since I happen to have 2007 to hand, we find Akon, Fergie [who also landed the top-selling single], Beyonce, Kanye West, and Jay-Z riding the stratosphere. White privilege, indeed!)

Need it be said that assuming all whites are racist is a form of racism in itself? Do yourself a favor and look for something a little more balanced. (zero)

Fair Content, Horrible Editing
We are in the process of adopting internationally and thought this book would be a good resource. The information was good, if a little narrow at times. The thing that distracted me the most was the editing: the authors will cover an idea, then rehash it several times, often using the same wording, sometimes within the same page.

Even worse (to me) were the gramatical, spelling, and punctuation errors - in abundance! I found one at least every 3-4 pages, and in a 400 page book that becomes very distracting very quickly.

The best advice I can give is to read it for it's point of view (if you are not too annoyed by the editing), but take many things with a grain of salt and form your own opinions on how to raise your child.

Negative, Overgeneralized, Poorly Written
I only read through the first third of the book before I had to give up on it. Often the authors overgeneralize - they take a statement made to them by one person of color and then say that all people of color feel the same way. That's not only counterproductive, it borders on perpetuating racism.

They have a very negative mindset that I find to be discouraging. My husband and I are considering transracial adoption of an older child; if I continue to read this book, I am certain they would talk me out of it.

Plus, I find this book to be very poorly written. It lacks any coherent organization. This book is in desperate need of an editor. Even if you agree with their approach to the issues, the typos, poor grammar and lack of structure will certainly make it difficult to follow their thought process. Unless James Joyce's stream of consciousness writing style is appealing to you, you will not enjoy the way the authors jump topics every other paragraph.

There are much better books dealing with these issues available. The only redeeming quality of this book is the quotes from children and adults who were raised in multiracial families.