The Environmental Impact of Colonialism & Why Landback Matters

Awarded to Michaela Maroon for work submitted in Fall 2023 to Dylan McCollum in ENGL 1020: Research and Argumentative Writing

The thing about the past is that it never fully stays put behind us. As a white person, I know that I am only in America because of a long history of colonialism; while America’s colonialist history has allowed me to live a relatively privileged position in life, I was only afforded that position at someone else’s expense. For example, I live on land stolen from Indigenous groups that were exiled to what is now eastern Oklahoma. The fact that these tribes were uprooted from their ancestral lands just to face further colonization from white settlers speaks volumes about the levels of injustice these communities faced. There’s also the matter of how the settlers responsible for this displacement—not just of Indigenous groups in Tennessee, but across the country—treated the land they stole. Colonialist practices didn’t begin and end with the subjection and exploitation of Indigenous folks; this treatment also extended to the land that colonizers were so eager to chase its native peoples out of. In this way, the link between colonialism and environmental injustice (and, more broadly speaking, climate change as a whole) is apparent. Sometimes, conservation attempts end up further perpetuating environmental injustice anyway. It is abundantly clear that we cannot rely on historically colonial powers to mitigate the effects of environmental degradation. Instead, it needs to be put into the hands of the people who, by all means, were managing pretty well before being colonized: Indigenous people. The best way to fight environmental injustice is through LandBack, an Indigenous-led movement that advocates for the decolonization of Native American territories.

LandBack as a movement predates its name, which was only coined in 2018 and made the movement’s official name in 2020 (Bender). Indigenous resistance to colonialism is, arguably, as old as colonialism itself. But how do we describe the goals of a movement with such a long history? Indigenous scholar Jeff Corntassel describes LandBack as the “regeneration of Indigenous laws on Indigenous lands and waters,” and a “call to liberate stolen lands and waters from current colonial encroachment and legal fictions” (Corntassel). This description is a useful starting point. It’s also important to note that LandBack isn’t solely about the legal transfer of property rights from the federal government to Indigenous tribes, although this does happen. LandBack is primarily concerned with healing the economic, spiritual, and environmental damage sustained by Indigenous tribes because of colonialism. Although the scope of this essay is focused on environmental injustice, remember that these things are intertwined. To properly explain the significance of Landback’s goals, it’s important to explore pre-colonial Indigenous land practices, and how they contrast with white settler views on land.

Let’s start with debunking a common myth: pre-contact Native Americans were not wandering hunter-gatherers living in absolute wilderness with no concept of “property.” This notion was invented by colonizers to justify terrorizing and stealing from Indigenous tribes. In reality, elements of what Europeans understood as “common property” were present in native societies. Historian Allan Greer writes, “Around the great cities of Mesoamerica lay villages and hamlets with intensely cultivated fields, some of the latter belonging to particular households, others owned by temples, local chiefs, or urban nobles and worked by the community. Plots were carefully measured, marked, and recorded. . . ” (Greer, pp. 369). Greer also demonstrates that native tribes did have a “passive” relationship with the land, and instead actively and intentionally altered their environments, such as burning away underbrush and diverting streams (Greer, pp. 372). We see here, then, that the colonialist argument that Indigenous people “weren’t making use of” or “wasting” the land they were living on doesn’t work. Indigenous communities have long histories of sophisticated land management tactics; contrary to the idea that nature thrives best when it is entirely absent of human intervention, research suggests that pre-settlement ecosystems achieved their balance through Native American intervention.

In a study done on land management practices of pre-colonial Indigenous tribes in the Sierra Nevada, researchers M. Kat Anderson and Michael J. Moratto cite the use of fire on trees and brush as crucial to ecosystem maintenance: “Fire was the most important management tool. . . to clear brush, maintain grasslands and meadows, improve browse for deer, enhance production of basketry and cordage materials, modify understory species composition in forests, and reduce fuel accumulation that might otherwise sustain intense fires” (Anderson & Moratto, pp. 193). Admittedly, the idea of anyone starting intentional fires anywhere sounds deeply alarming at first—but this method of forest management was used for generations by Indigenous tribes in the Sierra Nevada. Controlled burnings also “. . .recycled nutrients, destroyed insects and diseases, and promoted a lush understory vegetation that provided an important food supply for Sierran tribes.” (Anderson & Moratto, pp. 200) When eastern California was colonized, colonists imposed their own values and practices onto the land, undermining Indigenous practices in the process. Controlled fire was one of these practices. White settlers did not have the same understanding of the role of fire in the Sierra Nevada ecosystems that Indigenous Americans had. Instead, settlers projected their own understanding of fire—as something that posed a threat to property, such as crops and buildings—onto an environment that had been managed with the use of controlled fire for centuries (Racehorse & Hohag, pp. 186). Today, controlled fires are understood by scientists as a useful land management practice, but that, “. . . when prescribed-burning programs are implemented, they are usually done with little or no understanding of the former role of Native Americans in setting fires and creating other kinds of human disturbances” (Anderson & Moratto, pp. 200). The implication here is that, even though these techniques originated from Native American knowledge systems, nobody is actually consulting Native Americans about how to successfully implement these practices. This demonstrates that the knowledge Indigenous folks have–rather than second-hand knowledge about their practices—is crucial to fighting environmental degradation. Because settlers banned controlled burnings, these ecosystems are overall weaker as a result. In fact, several of the native elders interviewed for this report lost their homes, including items of sentimental and cultural value, due to “. . .[F]uel accumulations on adjacent public lands due to fire-suppression policies” (Anderson & Moratto, pp. 196). There’s also the matter of health risks associated with the air pollution caused by these wildfires–wildfires that, again, would not be nearly as bad as they are if it weren’t for colonialism. The impact of colonization in the Sierra Nevada region lingers in its environment.

Even efforts to protect ecosystem biodiversity on a federal level have only succeeded in further perpetuating environmental injustice. This is because, largely, environmentalist movements in the West are still rooted in colonial views of nature. In the aftermath of the industrial revolution, colonial societies concluded that the optimization of society and a clean, non-polluted environment were mutually exclusive. This resulted in what’s called “fortress conservation” (Luthy). This reveals a fundamental difference in colonial and Indigenous environmental philosophy: colonial nations view nature and human society as separate in a way that Indigenous societies often don’t. Furthermore, it demonstrates the persisting belief that the best way to “save” the environment is to box off patches of land, never to be touched or interfered with by humans. To that point, I’d like to call your attention back to the result of outlawing controlled burnings: it made the environment worse off. On top of that, fortress conservation leads to the further displacement of Indigenous communities. In his piece about fortress conservation, climate activist Quinn Luthy describes these communities as “conservation refugees,” writing that, “In most cases, these conservation refugees are indigenous people who have been forcefully removed from their ancestral homelands which have sustainably supported them for thousands of years. . .This creates a vicious cycle for indigenous people who have developed reciprocal, ecologically sound relationships with the land they live on” (Luthy). Fortress conservation is essentially a function of colonialism, repackaged as environmentalism. In reality, what little land these communities are still allowed to manage tend to have stronger, healthier ecosystems. According to Indigenous scholars Vanessa Racehorse and Anna Hohag, “Indigenous stewardship provides many crucial lessons regarding environmental preservation, as evidenced by the fact that approximately eighty percent of the world’s biodiversity lies within areas still held and defended by Indigenous peoples.” (Racehorse & Hohag, pp. 185.) When we understand how important Indigenous stewardship is to the environment, and colonialism’s role in disrupting that stewardship, the necessity for LandBack becomes clearer.

The legacy of colonialism still haunts Indigenous communities and their environments today. Indigenous tribes are still being actively marginalized by colonial governments and corporations. This is because of the lack of respect afforded to these communities. In their piece cited above, Racehorse and Hohag write that “. . .[F]or over forty years the Navajo nation permitted mass uranium mining on the Nation’s lands, the effects of which were disastrous for the Navajo peoples and their environment.” (Racehorse & Hohag, pp. 188.) This permission, however, was only granted due to “. . .[L]ong-standing and continuous exploitation of tribal resources by the American government and private corporate actors.” (Racehorse & Hohag, pp. 187-88.) On the flipside, Jeff Corntassel recalls a native youth activist group being invited to meet the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, after a campaign of protests against the construction of Coastal GasLink through their territory: “When it became clear that [the Minister] would not commit to stopping CGL encroachment onto Wet’suwet’en territory, the talks broke down and the youths refused to leave his office. As a result, five of the youths were handcuffed, dragged into the hallway, and later arrested for ‘mischief’” (Corntassel). Both of these cases illustrate the “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” nature of environmental injustice. The Navajo Nation were pressured into allowing uranium mining on their land–and sure, they could have said no, but who would have accepted that answer?–and they bore the brunt of the consequences. But we see with Corntassel’s account that protests against environmental injustice are also met with punishment. I want to point out how patronizing it is that a group of young activists who protested against a very real injustice were arrested for “mischief.” Indigenous tribes shouldn’t have to bow to oil and gas corporations to survive, nor should they be punished for protesting the presence of such corporations on their land.

This mistreatment of Indigenous tribes on their own land by modern governments and corporations is proof that our colonialist history has failed to remain just history. Colonial cycles of violence are being actively perpetuated in the present. Kyle Powys White, an Indigenous author and philosopher, coined the phrase “insidious loops” when discussing the cyclical effect of historic colonial settler violence against Indigenous people in the modern era. He writes:

“. . .[D]isproportionate Indigenous suffering is produced by changing environmental conditions–and once again–the machinations of US settler colonialism. Many relocating tribes, for example, are vulnerable precisely because they were forced to live permanently on tiny areas of land with limited adaptive options. . .[C]limate change also opens up more Indigenous territories, such as in the Arctic, to pressure from colonial exploitation, as thawing snow and ice create access to resources, such as oil and other hydrocarbons, that were previously hard to access. This climate-related development, as well as booms in extractive industries due to other causes, increases detrimental effects already experienced with past extractive industries” (Whyte, pp. 140).

Whyte’s proposal of insidious loops maps cleanly onto the aforementioned Sierra Nevada wildfires. If we understand insidious loops as the consequences of settler colonial violence reinforcing itself, then the link becomes clear: colonizers outlawed controlled burnings and displaced Indigenous tribes in the Sierra Nevada, which disrupted the ecological relationship between communities and their environment and prevented that cultural knowledge to be passed down, which then led to an increase in especially devastating wildfires in the region, disproportionately impacting displaced Indigenous communities, which finally leads us to today, with scientists retrospectively understanding the importance of controlled burnings but being unable to successfully implement those practices without the proper knowledge. This is why LandBack also emphasizes the restoration of Indigenous relationships and knowledge to the land; property rights without Indigenous stewardship and knowledge aren’t helpful towards mitigating the effects of climate change.

The issues of environmental injustice and the legacy of colonialism can feel too big for a single movement like LandBack to tackle. But I think that’s the reason I’m so compelled by LandBack. These injustices are deeply interwoven, which can make fighting them seem harrowing; but a consequence of their interconnectedness is that, if one begins to crumble, the others can’t help but follow. Decolonizing Indigenous land is ultimately a step forward towards repairing the damage done by colonialism in the first place. The work done to right the wrongs of the past is what lays the groundwork for a future worth living in. The fact that Indigenous folks’ right to jurisdiction and stewardship over land stolen from them is something we need to advocate for is, I feel, a little bit ridiculous at this point. But that–standing behind LandBack–is the right thing to do, in the interest of both the environment and the people living in it. That includes all of us.

Bibliography

1. Bender, Albert. “The LandBack movement is decolonizing Indigenous land across the Americas.” Peoplesworld.org, January 21, 2022.

2. Greer, Allen. “Commons and Enclosure in the Colonization of North America.” The American Historical Review, Vol. 117, no. 2, April 2012, pp. 365-386

2. Luthy, Quinn. “How Conservation Contributes to the Displacement of Indigenous People.” Earth.org, March 8, 2023

3. Racehorse, Vanessa & Hohag, Anna. “Achieving Climate Justice Through Landback: An Overview of Tribal Dispossession, Land Return Efforts, and Practical Mechanisms for #LandBack.” Legal Studies Research Paper Series, University of New Mexico, September 2023.

4. J. Moratto, Michael & Kat, M. Anderson. “Native American Land-Use Practices and Ecological Impacts.” Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress, vol. II, chapter 9, 1996, pp. 187-206

5. Corntassel, Jeff. “Indigenous Laws on Indigenous Lands: Land Back as Community Resurgence.” Land Back, vol. 1, no. 2, 2021.

6. Whyte, Kyle. (2018). “Settler Colonialism, Ecology, and Environmental Injustice.” Environment and Society. 9. 125-144. 10.3167/ares.2018.090109.

Adolescence to Adulthood: A Life-Altering Transition for Those With ASD

Awarded to Lena Eccles for work submitted in Fall 2023 to Amy Fant in ENGL 1020: Research and Argumentative Writing

A crowd of family and friends alike sit together in a brightly lit auditorium with navy blue and orange decorations covering the walls. My mother and father sat beside me, holding hands and scanning a commencement booklet filled with names of kids I had never seen or met. My eyes raise to meet those of the principal announcing the names of the kids that I am now able to put a face to. He goes down the alphabet, greeting each student who is dressed in gowns of blue. Boyd. Burns. Campbell. My heart is beginning to tighten as I see the line of kids slowly dwindle across the stage. Cook. Duncan. Ebstein. Oh, here come the waterworks. Eccles. My family stands and roars with applause as my brother Andy is escorted by his teacher across the stage. Tears and cries of joy erupt from all of us as we see our son, brother, and cousin walk across the stage. With all the happiness and hugs being flown around, a thought couldn’t help but creep into my mind… What’s next for him? My brother Andrew was diagnosed with Autism at 2 years old, alongside many other children of the early 2000s. A rise in autism diagnoses is not an unfamiliar phenomenon today, and the numbers keep climbing. According to a study conducted in 2014, 80,000 kids with autism age into adulthood every year (Glazer). With an influx of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, they will inevitably grow up to be adults and many families and individuals with ASD are unprepared. In order for these children to transition from their adolescence to adulthood, there needs to be a change in how we effectively educate them through qualified staff and the implementation of a curriculum focused on teaching life skills that are more personally catered to the individual’s maximum potential.

Special Education, or SPED, programs across the United States are growing in size due to the increased population of kids with learning/mental disabilities needing extra support. The support needed for these kids is included in their Individualized Education Program, or IEP, which creates a special plan to properly educate the student based on their maximum potential. The special education teachers are given a caseload of students to work with on their IEPs. With that, there are some issues to be presented with the increasing classroom size such as a shortage of special education teachers. One may argue that this is a pressing issue, but there’s a teacher shortage and a dwindle in the education system as a whole. According to an article published by the National Education Association, as of 2022 “there are currently 567,000 fewer educators in America’s public schools today than there were before the pandemic” (Jotkoff). Acknowledging the overall teacher shortage in America, there is still an immense need to upgrade the current SPED program by recruiting more qualified teachers, and changing the curriculum in a way to help these kids gain life skills to function at their best in the ‘real adult world’.

To be fair, before we can address the issue of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA) agenda for SPED programs, we must understand that education within the United States is not without its problems. State Boards of Education around America are crumbling to the pressure of parents, students, and teachers advocating for better outcomes. Such outcomes are teacher salaries and staffing issues whether that’s in the SPED classroom or not. Rather than fixing these issues of underpaying and overworking staff, the direction we are taking with our K-12 education is stripping the children of opportunities to grow and learn at their maximum ability by changing the curriculum to cater to the issues. We are lowering the standards of schools instead of fighting for a way to improve education and it is incredibly important to fight this perspective. According to the “Invest in Education Act” website, teachers have been dealing with tax cuts for 28 years that are taking away their necessary resources and overall pay (Mantel). On top of that, a recent bill has been passed in the state of Iowa that allows schools to offer fewer arts and language courses, allows for former librarians to teach classes, and allows teachers to teach multiple units of subject at the same time which condenses the courses even more (Opsahl). These changes that are being implemented aren’t fixing the problem, they are driving down the standards we have for public education and adapting to the issue of teacher shortages and budget cuts. It is creating an entirely new issue.

To reiterate, there is much room for improvement in America’s Educational System, but we can’t undermine the importance of helping children with ASD and their families navigate the transition to adulthood early on. As of 2023, IDEA’s mission for improving the quality of life for children with disabilities through education includes…

having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general education curriculum in the regular classroom, to the maximum extent possible, in order to meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible, the challenging expectations that have been established for all children; and be prepared to lead productive and independent adult lives, to the maximum extent possible (“About IDEA”)

This set of basic criteria for schools to meet is attainable, but we are not attaining it efficiently for these kids. According to IDEA’s “2023 Determination Letters on the State Implementation of IDEA,” only 23 states met the requirements while the other 35 states were ranked as “needs assistance.” Among those 35 states were larger populated areas such as California, New York, and, where my brother resides, Tennessee. More than half of the country’s states are failing to meet the criteria to teach these children general education, developmental goals, overcoming challenging expectations, and, most importantly, how to live productive and independent lives “to the maximum extent possible.” This is at no fault to the special educators either. In fact, most of the teachers are in agreement that the SPED programs are grossly underfunded, understaffed, and underqualified. Many teachers, principals, and other leaders will all say the same thing: the special education program is worse off and we all know it (Rosenkrantz). So, what is being done about it? There have been solutions that may help this issue. As of 2020, universities such as the University of Tennessee are offering free tuition for those seeking a degree in special education to create a higher incentive for more teachers (Kast). Although this is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t provide a long-lasting solution for passionately, qualified teachers.

We need to not only hire qualified personnel to teach these kids but also develop a more sustainable and functional curriculum to educate from. The foundation of what we are teaching kids within the SPED program is fairly similar to that of a neurotypical developing classroom as required by IDEA’s need for equality. This is a great starting point to offer children the right to equal opportunities. However, there needs to be a stronger reiteration to helping the kids develop their soft skills for adulthood. I have witnessed firsthand the criteria given to my brother, Andy, in his classroom and I have seen my mother and father appalled over the scores of his report card from a California-based middle school.

Math: 0/10 Needs Improvement
Writing: 2/10 Needs Improvement
Speech: 0/10 Needs Improvement

My mother scoffed at the email, Of course my son needs improvement in speech, he’s non-verbal! Why do they have to shove that in our faces? This event was seared into my brain from my youth because she is right: why do we have a curriculum such as this for students who require a different approach to their education? My brother is not the only one who has experienced this type of failing curriculum. Anna Sossong, a mother to 13-year-old Jacob, was outraged at the fact that her son was still speaking at a 2-year-old level. and on his report, it was ranked as ‘met all goals.’ Sossong had advocated for a re-evaluation but unfortunately was denied as it was not “educationally relevant for his program” (Rosenkrantz). Sossong further claims that the goal of IDEA has great potential, but the actual practice is failing due to a lack of funding for further improvement and qualified teachers/aids. She later pulled her son from public education. These testimonies further validate the need for serious changes within our school systems and IDEA as a whole. Both claims are criticizing the way we “grade” the students’ performances. We see one instance where the performance was critiqued too harshly and another where the critiques were underwhelming and didn’t aim for improvement. We need to find a middle ground to help the students improve upon life skills at their maximum potential.

While creating change and improving the educational system collectively is the end goal, it is not something that can happen overnight. Starting with sections such as the special education program will help to influence the rest of our youths’ education like a domino effect. Additionally, helping the students within the SPED program receive the best possible education will in turn provide them with skills to seek out job opportunities, housing amenities, and overall a better quality of life. Education is here to help the country’s youth grow into the people they want to become, shouldn’t we give that same opportunity to those on the spectrum? Working together to end the teacher shortage and educational budget cuts is a task we must take on by electing government officials who are passionate and willing to make sacrifices for our youth. Helping to advocate for those unable to themselves, and spreading awareness of the issues presented by being loud about it! When my brother walked across that stage to receive his high school diploma, I could see a young man destined for a beautiful life. I am determined to offer him that, to find out what is next for him. My brother Andy, and so many others, give their maximum potential every day, and the education system needs to step up and do the same.

Works Cited

“2023 Determination Letters on State Implementation of IDEA” Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, U.S Department of Education, 26 June 2023, sites.ed.gov/idea/files/ideafactsheet-determinations-2023.pdf.

“About IDEA.” Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 30 Nov. 2023, sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/.

Glazer, Sarah. “Understanding Autism.” CQ Press, Sage CQ Library,1 Aug. 2014, cqpress.sagepub.com/cqresearcher/report/understanding-autism-cqresrre20140801.

Jotkoff, Eric. “NEA Survey: Massive Staff Shortages in Schools Leading to Educator Burnout; Alarming Number of Educators Indicating They Plan to Leave Profession.” National Education Association, 1 Feb. 2022, www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/nea-survey-massive-staff-shortages-schools-leading-educator-burnout-alarming-number-educators.

Kast, Monica. “UT, Knox County Schools Partner to Give Future Special Education Teachers Free Tuition.” Knoxville News Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2020, www.knoxnews.com/story/news/education/2020/03/02/ut-knox-schools-give-free-tuition-special-education-teachers/4883111002/.

Mantel, Barbara. “Education Funding”. CQ Researcher, 31 Aug 2018. Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press, 2018. 15 Nov 2023, https://cqpress-sagepub-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/cqresearcher/report/education-funding-cqresrre20180831

Opsahl, Robin. “House Passes Bill to Loosen School Requirements, Including for Arts and Language Offerings.” Iowa Capital Dispatch, 10 Mar. 2023, iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/09/house-passes-bill-to-loosen-school-requirements-including-for-arts-and-language-offerings/.

Rosenkrantz, Holly. “Special Education.” CQ Press, Sage CQ Library, 11 June 2021, cqpress.sagepub.com/cqresearcher/report/special-education-cqresrre20210611.

International Adoptive Triad: Parents, Are You Ready?

Awarded to Zoe Gracia for work submitted in Spring 2023 to Candie Moonshower in ENGL 1020: Research and Argumentative Writing

I sit quietly, staring vacantly at the white screen in front of me. A black cursor blinks steadily on the empty page. A gentle tune of a guitar and a melodic voice fills the silence. The words are incomprehensible to the ears of a monolingual, but somehow the unknown sounds reach a feeling inside, something primal. I am reflecting on some news that I received recently; an acquaintance has died. The cause is suspected to be suicide. It reminds me of sophomore year in high school; a classmate committed suicide. Both victims were young, 25 and 16 years old respectively; a reminder that life is short. Both were adoptees. Is suicide a thought that pops up when you think of adoption? What about death in general? Unfortunately, adoptees are about four times as likely to attempt suicide in comparison to their non-adopted counterparts. It’s not only the adoptee that thinks about taking such extreme measures; birth parents also wrestle with these thoughts. Adoption isn’t just about creating a new family. It also has its difficulties, and an international adoption adds a layer of cultural differences. International adoption is generally viewed in a positive light, but there are just as many negatives. As parents look to transracial adoption, they need to understand that it is like receiving a coin. It has two sides; one is positive and the other negative, but together they give the coin value. This is why prospective parents should go through an educational program before transracial adoption because it will show who is truly ready to commit to adoption, it will better prepare the parents in the cultural aspects of transracial adoption, and it will provide insight on how adoption affects adoptees.

Three to twelve months is how long the transracial adoption takes if there are no major hiccups. Through this arduous and costly process, parents who are not committed are easily weeded out. How then does a program show who is truly ready to commit to adoption if the process of transracial adoption will weed out people anyway? While many parents can go through the process of transracial adoption, there are aspects that they may not be prepared for once they have adopted because they were not educated. This lack of preparation for these moments, as stated by Megan Gunnar and Seth D. Pollak in their article “Supporting Parents so That They Can Support Their Internationally Adopted Children: The Larger Challenge Lurking behind the Fatality Statistics,” can lead to more fatal consequences. Gunnar and Pollak report, “We share Miller and colleagues’ shock and horror that there have been any fatalities of children at the hands of their adoptive parents, let alone 18 fatalities in the past 10 years.” Though these families went through the adoption process they still ended up as bad matches for the adoptees. What was the cause? Lack of preparation and professional support. As Gunnar and Pollak point out, while it is agreed that perspective parents should be informed of the possible challenges they might face, who is going to inform them? Adoption agencies’ postadoption assistance is next to non-existent, professional help is limited due to travel availability and expenses, and when parents turn to local help they might be turned away with the response of “more love will fix the problem.” Even help from the education system can be lackluster. Gunnar and Pollak state, “Parents are often told the child should not be evaluated for special services until the child is proficient in English.” This is why having a program prior to transracial adoption could be beneficial. It would allow discussion of the psychological and behavioral developmental challenges that potential parents might be faced with as the adoptee grows older. It would also provide the parents with a support group of other potential adoptive parents.

Aside from weeding out adoptive parents who are unprepared to commit to adoption, there is an added layer that international adoption presents. That is the cultural aspect of transracial adoption. When I was in 3rd grade, I was likened to a Chinese chicken. In 6th grade, I joined a Chinese church where I often didn’t understand certain customs. As a Chinese in high school, I was either assumed to be smart or told I didn’t compare to my other fellow Asians. This follows me into college where I have been told I am not an authentic Chinese. Even growing up in my home I hear and am told how bad the Chinese, more specifically the government, is. Don’t get me wrong, this is never directed at me. I love my parents, and there is of course some truth to their words. However, this does not take away my feelings of hurt. These incidents are not something only I face. These feelings and situation are experienced by many others and are common causes for adoptees’ suicides. In Grace Newton’s article “In Memory of Emilie Grace Olsen and All Adoptees Gone Too Soon,” she discusses the racial difficulties she experienced and the difficulties the deceased had. Newton goes on to state, “When parents choose to adopt transnationally, they sign up to take on the task of understanding the complexities of race in our society.” The absence of their own culture and the challenges of being different can become overwhelming for adoptees. As it is a part of who the child is, parents should not try to take that away from the child to assimilate them into society because people around them will always start by judging what they see. Transracial adoptees will always be that and so why try to cover that up? It is more beneficial psychologically as well to address that fact and learn more about the culture you are adopting from.

Racism and cultural differences are one problem that transracial adoptees face, but one main issue that seems to get overlooked in adoption is how adoption affects the adoptee. Earlier, I mentioned I was listening to music that had lyrics I was unable to translate due to only knowing one language, but somehow, the music still resonated with me and it gave me some primal feeling. Primal is the right word in this case as adoptees are faced with a primal wound. Nancy Verrier, in her book Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child, addresses this idea of a primal wound, the result of a child and mother being separated shortly after childbirth. Adoption is a traumatic experience even if the child does not consciously remember it. To illustrate the power of a mother and child’s bond, Verrier quotes a story by Judith Viorst that goes as follows:

“A young boy lies in the hospital bed. He is frightened and in pain. Burns cover
40 percent of his small body. Someone has doused him with alcohol and
unimaginably set him on fire.
He cries for his mother.
His mother has set him on fire.” (13)

Verrier goes on to explain that even when the mother is a monster the child will inevitably seek comfort in the mother. Acknowledging the loss and trauma of the adoptee is something that is often not thought of or is minimized. Minimizing the adoptee’s emotions, especially when they don’t understand them fully themselves, will cause them to close themselves off. Psychological and behavioral problems can arise due to this.

Feelings of hurt and abandonment can be made even worse when unprepared adoptive parents put their child up for a second adoption. This means that the parents will adopt a child then put them back up for adoption again. This decision to un-adopt an adoptee, in their minds, confirms their beliefs that there is something wrong with them that lead to them getting abandoned. This can cause a higher chance for mental issues as they struggle with attachment, self-acceptance, trust issues, and belonging. Adoptees might develop coping or defense mechanisms to deal with their trauma. One such mechanism is self-sabotage. They might be doing well but don’t believe they should be, so they will ruin it. Some have great friends, but because of their lack of trust in a good relationship they will try to test those bonds. They end up doing something that ruins the relationship thus lowering their sense of worth. These self-destructive habits continue like a cycle and can be problematic as the adoptee gets older. As parents, it is important to understand your child for their development and wellbeing. This should be confronted before transracial adoption.

Instead of viewing transracial adoption with a “savior” attitude, it is important that parents are made aware of all aspects of the adoption. It’s not only about the adoptive parents choosing a child to add to the family; it’s also about the breaking of important bonds. It is the job of the new parents to help get the adoptees back on their feet. Adoptive parents are bringing in broken beings who have unresolved trauma that shouldn’t be ignored. The best way to help is to be well informed of what you are signing up for when you adopt. Parents must be prepared to take the whole coin, the head and the tail, the good and the bad.

Works Cited

Bluebearry. “Different International Multicultural Children Standing Together and Holding Hands around the World.” IStock, 2019, https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/unity-ofkids-and-planet-earth-concept-gm1129458285-298368409. Image.

Creese, Michael. “Adoption Symbol.” Fine Art America, 2017, https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/medium/1/adoption-symbolmichael-creese.jpg. Image.

Gunnar, Megan, and Seth D. Pollak. “Supporting Parents so That They Can Support Their Internationally Adopted Children: The Larger Challenge Lurking behind the Fatality Statistics.” Child Maltreatment, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Nov. 2007, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702774/.

Morson, Jenn. “Unadopt a Child.” Adoptee Rights Law Center, 2021,
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