ABC News has a show called “What Would You Do?”, where people may step up, step in or walk away from situations which occur in public places. The situations are ones which would cause people to pay attention to. Paid actors are used by the show and hidden cameras catch reactions from the public.
Recently the show did a segment involving transracial adoption. In a diner, a Caucasian woman meets up with her Caucasian friend who brings along her newly adopted daughter (around age 4). When the daughter is African-American, the adoptive mother gets an earful from her friend who loudly proclaims how “wrong” she thinks her adoption is. The same situation is then played out with two African-American women and a Caucasian adopted daughter.
Did you watch this show? How well do you think it was handled?
If you were in the diner, how would you have reacted?
Do you think people in the diner were only reacting because it was a Black-White discussion? Would they react the same had the child been Asian or Hispanic?
If you did adopt transracially, did any of your friends react this way in public? Did other people listening in step in on your conversation?
Thumbs Up? or Thumbs Down?
Danielle Pennel
AFC Community Moderator
