Book review of Sharon E. Rush, Loving across the color line. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2000. $23.95 hardcover

Berrick, Jill Duerr

English

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The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 28 Issue 3 September - Special Issue: Evaluation of TANF Article 16 September 2001 Review of Loving across the color line: A White Adoptive Mother Learns About Race. Sharon E. Rush. Review by Jill Duerr Berrick Jill Duerr Berrick University of California, Berkeley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw  Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Berrick, Jill Duerr (2001) "Review of Loving across the color line: A White Adoptive Mother Learns About Race. Sharon E. Rush. Review by Jill Duerr Berrick," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 28 : Iss. 3 , Article 16. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol28/iss3/16 This Book Review is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu. Book Reviews 229behavior during the Defense of Marriage Act proceedings. MarkRom discusses the ways that gay men and lesbians were ableto trump medical and legal experts while seizing control of thepublic response to AIDS. Francine D'Amico analyzes the politicssurrounding sexuality and the military services.The last section describes the relative effectiveness of themovement across local, state, and national political arenas. JamesButton and his colleagues show that although over 100 cities andcounties have anti-discrimination laws, the laws are not alwaysforcefully implemented. Donald Haider-Markel offers hope toadvocates of conventional political activity by describing theways that lesbians and gays have influenced state politics aselected officials, lobbyists and activists. Colton Campbell andRoger Davidson show that although an unprepared congressused a special commission to deal with AIDS, it met the chal-lenge of gay marriage through open dialogue and debate. SarahBrewer and here colleagues review the work of the Supreme Courtemphasizing its general reluctance to enter into the fray. ClydeWilcox and Robin Wolpert finish up by tracing public opinion ongay and lesbian issues.John F LongresUniversity of WashingtonSharon E. Rush, Loving across the color line. Lanham, MD: Rowmanand Littlefield Publishers, 2000. $23.95 hardcover.The new millennium is upon us and race relations may beas powerful a force in American society as they were a centuryago. The nature and tenor of the debate surrounding race haschanged , but the U.S. remains a profoundly racist society andmuch remains to be done in order to attain equality of opportunityand experience for all citizens-African American and White.Sharon Rush adds to America's discussion about race using apersonal account of her life as a White mother raising an AfricanAmerican, adopted daughter. The book adds another dimensionto our thinking about race in part because of the personal natureof the story and in part because many of the incidents of racism areseen through the eyes of a young girl. The innocence of the littlegirl's questions and her significant dismay at others' behavior is230 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfareby far the most powerful aspect of the book and stays with thereader long after it is placed aside.In writing Living across the color line, Rush attempts to con-tribute to the effort toward racial equality in America. She doesso using herself and her personal experiences as an example.Although the book might have value for many adult audiences,it is written primarily for a White, liberal, "goodwill" audience.By "goodwill," Rush refers to those Whites who do not intend tobe prejudiced nor racist in their thoughts or actions; those whoalready believe in racial equality. These individuals, she posits,are committed to racial equality but nonetheless may unwittinglycontribute to continued inequality either by their unwillingnessto see their own White privilege, or by discounting the role of racein many social and political events.The book is divided into two main sections. The first part ofthe book (chapters 1-6) includes a variety of personal anecdotesfrom Rush's experiences as a mother of an African Americanchild. Each chapter contains one or more stories of racism, sexismand injustice and how each instance was perceived and managedby the little girl and her mother. By sharing these personal ac-counts with others, Rush clearly hopes that her experience as aliberal, White of "goodwill" will have resonance with others of"goodwill" so that they can develop a deeper appreciation of theprofound impact and prevalence of racism for people of color. Inthe second section of the book (chapters 7-8) Rush offers someinsights, based on her earlier experience, which might help tobridge the "color line" and improve race relations in the U.S.The book's strength comes through in the first section, whenthe young girl's reflections on race are highlighted. Through hereyes, we see how children view race ("If black is so special, thenwhy isn't it in the rainbow?" [p. 164]), how they perceive others'views on race ("Why do Whites hate something with feelingswhen there are so many other black things to hate?" [p. 164]), andhow children of color understand the rules of American society("You have tobe White to get that award." [p. 1641). The girl's com-ments speak more strongly and powerfully than any commentaryprovided by the mother and are sufficient to communicate thatchildren-even very young children-experience racism early on.Children recognize that American society sometimes places aBook Reviewsdifferent and higher value on white skin tone than black, andthat both children and adults can be particularly cruel for no otherreason but for the color of one's skin.The mother's experiences of racism occur not only becauseshe hears of them through her daughter, but also because she isWhite and her child is African American. This allows strangers tosay with impunity things that they might not otherwise discloseif they understood the little girl to be her daughter. For example,we learn of the stranger in the airport who comments aloudthat the six-year-old Black girl might have stolen her purse, orthe ambulance driver who wonders if the young child is a drugaddict. Rush sees what many parents of adopted children, fosterchildren, and biological mixed-race children encounter and herdeveloping sensibility suggests that a quick and direct responsemay be the best in such situations.Although the topic of transracial adoption is not the cen-terpiece of the book, Rush raises the topic on several occasionsthroughout. Given her experience-one that is fraught with chal-lenges, yet also elicits strong emotions of devotion-Rush's reflec-tions on transracial adoptions are inconsistent and contradictory.She acknowledges that African American children are heavilyover-represented in the foster care system; that they wait longerfor adoptive placements than children of other ethnic or racialgroups; that while they wait they often experience placementinstability; that the outcomes from foster care may be more dele-terious to child well-being than outcomes from adoption; and thatthere may be more African American children needing adoptivehomes than there are African American parents willing and ableto care for them. She writes:"I have to believe my daughter is better off with a permanentplacement with a White mother who tries to instill in her a positiveself-image, including being a Black girl, than she would be in thefoster care system where she probably would not know a stablefamily life at all." (p. 93).In her conclusions she also suggests that one of the only avenuesavailable to our nation to bridge the "color line" is to experiencewidespread "transformative love"-a concept of caring that goeswell beyond empathy and that may only be experienced through232 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfarethe intensity of love brought on by an intimate relationship. Yet inspite of her experience, her knowledge of the problems associatedwith foster care, and her proscriptions for national change, shegoes on to say: "However, my experiences convince me thattransracial adoptions should be last resorts." (p. 93). If the conun-drum of race relations is likely to be resolved primarily through"transformative love," and such love can only be experiencedthrough intimacy, then narrowing opportunities for transracialadoptions will do little to forward her stated goal.Rush's book is important for those who work with children.It reminds us of the special efforts that should be made early inlife to teach children of all racial and ethnic groups about equalityof experience and opportunity. It also raises an awareness of theimpact of racism, even among the young. Awareness is a start;"transformative love" may be helpful along the way; we have along way to go before our nation crosses over.Jill Duerr BerrickUniversity of California at BerkeleyRita Caccamo, Back to Middletown: Three Generations of SociologicalReflections. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000. $45.00hardcover.In his introduction to this book, Arthur Vidich states that,although Robert and Helen Lynd wished to approach Muncie, In-diana (the location of their classic community study Middletown)as ethnologists would enter an undiscovered tribe, they could notreally carry it off. They were "embedded" in the culture of thepeople they were studying. So Rita Caccamo, an Italian sociolo-gist, could finally bring a true outsider's perspective, presumablyseeing things the Lynds could not.Would it were so. Caccamo wrote her book in the Center forMiddletown Studies at Ball State University, but she could havedone most of it without leaving Rome. If Caccamo ever set footoutside, ever bought groceries, sipped a latte', attended a footballgame, pumped gas, ordered a burger, or watched The Simpsonsin Muncie, alone or in the company of the natives, we are nonethe wiser for it.

Review of \u3cem\u3eLoving across the color line: A White Adoptive Mother Learns About Race.\u3c/em\u3e Sharon E. Rush. Review by Jill Duerr Berrick

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Review of \u3cem\u3eLoving across the color line: A White Adoptive Mother Learns About Race.\u3c/em\u3e Sharon E. Rush. Review by Jill Duerr Berrick

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