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Elaine Vigneault
Las Vegas, NV
I am a vegan, atheist feminist.
Recent Activity
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Elaine signed the petition | -
Elaine signed the petition | -
Elaine signed the petition | -
Elaine signed the petition | -
Elaine signed the petition | -
Elaine commented on the article |I am a white foster mother to a black baby boy. When/if he becomes available for adoption, I will adopt him.
When I read blog posts like this, it's hard not to take it personally. Not only because it's difficult for me to hear criticism my family choices, but because I know that some people inadvertently take their anger towards the child welfare systen out on my son as well. They don't intend to treat him differently, but a combination of racism, classism, and adoptism have their effects.
White mothers and black babies are "the face" of (transracial) adoption even though statistically we are few and far between. Most adoptive parents choose babies of their same race and thus pass as nonadoptive families. They are never "the face" of adoption, transracial or otherwise. We, white mothers, receive the brunt of the criticism against all adoption. That's just how it is.
It's hard to be in that place without getting defensive or angry.
Here's my take: our society is still so racist that the problems identified in the post above are real but miniscule compared to larger social problems. If there were really an overwhelming number of prospective adoptive white mothers willing to adopt black children from the child welfare system, then it might make sense to describe the situation as you've done above. But since black children - particualrly boys and/or children with special needs such as drug exposure - do not fill a demand as "the fashion accessory du jour," it makes little sense to worry so much about these rare transracial adoptions. It makes more sense to worry about why so many prospective adoptive parents don't want black children. it makes more sense to worry about why a disproportionate number of black mothers are in poverty/ drug addicted/ lacking medical care/ etc. It makes more sense to place the brunt of the criticism somewhere else - not on me and my family. because ultimately, the effect this blog post has isn't one that actually benefits black children or black mothers.
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Elaine commented on the article |Saying that "fur belongs in beauty pageants" is like saying that dog fighing belongs in the NFL. Neither fur nor dog fighting belong ANYWHERE.
More more to the point, bashing beauty pageants doesn't actually do anything to help the animals who are killed for their fur.
Certainly, there's plenty of room for criticism of pageants and American football, but it's got little to nothing to do with ripping the skin off sentient beings. And it won't convince any pageant contestant or fan to ditch fur!
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Elaine commented on the article |I don't have a huge problem with terms like hag or bitch, particularly when women use them. But the terms ARE offensive. And we should strive to avoid them. We can and should do better.
Just stick to the points: People who buy or wear fur are mean. Fur farms and the people who own them are cruel.
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Elaine commented on the article |Thank you for writing about the billboards! As a vegan in Vegas, I can attest to the fact that our numbers are growing and our compassion is spreading.
:)
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Organizations
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Sixdegrees.org1 Action 0 Recruits -
Friends of Animals0 Actions 0 Recruits -
Greenpeace1 Action 0 Recruits -
Deep Roots Animal Sanctuary1 Action 0 Recruits
