Sandra Bullock's Baby: A Curious Case

First, it was Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Then it was Madonna. Now Sandra Bullock has joined the collective of celebrities adopting black babies.

Bullock is currently on the cover of People magazine (pictured above) with Louis, her newly adopted and, admittedly very cute, child. It's a lovely photo yet also one that evokes a variety of emotions. It's undeniable that there is something out of the ordinary about white people adopting black children. This is even more so in the case of celebrities, where it seems to have become a trend in recent years.

As Bullock's case shows, a white celebrity adopting a black child raises questions as well as suspicions. Why do they want a black baby as opposed to a white one, when there are also white kids who are up for adoption? Are they buying in to the idea that poor black children must be saved by altruistic white people (ironically, one of the themes in Bullock's latest movie 'Blindside')? Or in the case of celebrities, is a black child just another accessory or another save-the-world mission that they embark on in between movies?

In an ideal world none of this would matter. We are all people, after all, and children need love and good parenting; however, this is not an ideal world and the topic is more complex than that.For a long time, the adoption of black children by white parents was not allowed in the United States. Changing racial attitudes and a large increase in black children in the foster care system - 32% of the 510,000 children in foster care are now black - meant that since 1994, when the Multiethnic Placement Act was passed, it has been illegal to consider race, national origin or color as a factor when determining who would make a suitable adoptive parent.

The very point of making the consideration of race illegal was to ensure that black children were indeed taken home by white families. This has little to do with altruism and more to do with necessity due to the sheer numbers of black children in the system and the lack of black families to take care of them all. The numbers of white parents adopting black kids has been growing: According to the New York Times' analysis of official data, 26 percent of adopted black children in 2004 were adopted by mostly white parents, which was up from 14 percent in 1998. In the 2000 census, some 16,000 white households had adopted black children.

Bullock is, like the other celebrities who have adopted black children, wealthy, successful and apparently socially and mentally well adjusted. Why should it matter that she is not of the same race as her child? Would we really rather that black children remain in foster care rather than be adopted by a white person?

This is where the issue of the cultural and psychological impact of trans-racial adoption comes in to play. Again we are led to ask more questions: What are, for example, the cultural implications for a black child that is raised by a white family? Do they struggle to find themselves?

Some studies -- including a 2008 study by the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute, which was endorsed by several prominent organizations -- have suggested that black children raised in white adopted families have a difficult time adjusting to being different in an all-white environment.

The National Association of Black Social Workers felt so strongly about this issue that, back in the early '70s, it branded trans-racial adoption "cultural genocide." The workers wrote:

"The National Association of Black Social Workers has taken a vehement stand against the placement of black children in white homes for any reason. We affirm the inviolable position of black children in black families where they belong physically, psychologically and culturally in order that they receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound projection of their future."

There is definitely something to be said for the importance of a deep-rooted sense of culture and heritage and growing up around other people who look like you. It can be hard for someone who is not black to really grasp exactly what that means and how important that is for a person's psyche. Even the most culturally aware white person cannot know what it is like to be black, and I doubt whether it is something they could be taught or teach. Hopefully, Bullock has some great black people in her life who can connect with the child and provide that for him.

Maybe in the celebrity world, though, where those children are adopted in to worlds of influence, opportunity, wealth and power, the impact of race matters less. Mostly when we consider the barriers put up by societal notions of race, they tend to be based around access to the very material things and opportunities that such high-profile people can provide with ease. One could also argue that even black children in black families go through some period of figuring out who they are and what their identity is. It is not as if black children in black families do not wrestle with those issues themselves. Look at Michael Jackson.

Some might ask, though, that if it's hard enough being black in a black family, wouldn't it be harder in a white family? But there are also a number of biracial children who grow up with white parents and who face what would apparently be some of the same issues faced by black children in white adopted homes, and we do not say that people of different races should not have babies together. President Barack Obama does not seem to have been psychologically traumatized by growing up with a white mother and grandmother. What is the difference?

Black children are overrepresented in the adoption system, making up 32 percent of all children in foster care (compared to 40 percent who are white), despite black people being in significantly smaller numbers in the general population. They stay longer in the system, tend to experience multiple placements and find it harder to be placed with one permanent family. In light of that, is this really a case worth debating at all? Isn't it better for children of any race to go to a good home rather than spend their lives in foster care?

And, there is a key point that we are forgetting: Black kids are in foster homes because black parents put them there. If we would prefer not to have black children raised by non-black parents, we should do a better job of keeping them out of the foster care system in the first place. And, if we black people do feel strongly about this, it is incumbent on all of us to ensure that we help people like Sandra Bullock make sure that their child is well adjusted and supported. What do you think?

Lola Adesioye is a British socio-political writer. She writes regular commentary for The Guardian and The Huffington Post and is regularly featured on TV and radio in the UK and United States giving her perspectives on current affairs. Read more of her work at www.lolacreative.com.