Interracial Adoption, Hollywood Depictions, Public Sentiment and Down to Earth Realities!

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What do Sandra Bullock, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Jane Fonda, Stephen Spielberg, Michelle Pfeiffer, Angelina Jolie, and some other celebrities have in common? If you are one of those individuals whose pulse is routinely tuned in to the ongoing, transient world of American popular culture, then you are well aware that each of these celebrities has adopted Black children or children of African descent. Watching a recent documentary on transracial adoption reminded me of this fact and other issues associated with it.

Interracial adoption is a topic that seems to periodically and cyclically resurface in the public arena. Matters usually reach a fever pitch whenever a movie like 2009’s The Blind Side, starring Bullock, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance; or 1995’s Losing Isaiah, starring Oscar winners Halle Berry, Jessica Lange, and Cuba Gooding Jr. as well as Oscar nominees David Strathairn and Samuel Jackson, becomes popular.

While both movies tackled racial identification from different perspectives, the issue was at the forefront of each. Indeed, arguments surrounding the topic tend to be hypersensitive, defensive, and based on emotions. These arguments can often be refuted or, at minimum, credibly challenged. Critics of cross-cultural adoptions argue that such…