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Between Worlds. Most whites who adopt children of other races are managing the problems remarkably well. But there are opponents of mixed adoption. Most vocal among them are the black separatists, who fear loss of the Negro's heritage through assimilation. Even integrationist blacks and whites worry about the ability of white parents to equip black youngsters for survival in a prejudiced world. They are concerned over all sorts of seemingly minor problems, such as a white parent's lack of experience in combing a black child's kinky hair ("There's just no way to do it gently," says Urban Planner Thomas Nutt). Another danger: stereotyped ideas of black intelligence that may crop up when an adopted child is the only black in his school and neither his teacher nor his classmates expect him to do well. Both blacks and whites are wary of civil rights crusaders willing to sacrifice a child to prove a point or to promote integration. "A child should be loved for himself, not as a symbol," observes an official of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
T.R.A. youngsters, says Sociologist Kirk, can become "people between worlds." Other things being equal, Montreal's Open Door Society concedes, placing black children with black parents is best. The trouble is that other things rarely are equal; too few black families can afford adoption, and most are reluctant to apply for children because they are afraid of being rejected by white adoption agencies. But given a choice between leaving black kids (or children of other racial minorities) in institutions or placing them with willing white families, most experts would vote for the latter. Says Clayton Hagen of the Lutheran Social Service in Minnesota: because children need homes, "we cannot wait until society is prepared. A person who finds his identity in his race cannot bring up a child of another color. But a person who finds his identity as a human being can well be a parent to another human being."