Book Review: Black Baby, White Hands - Jaiya John

The author of Black Baby, White Hands is Jaiya John. He is known as being the first black baby to be adopted by two white parents in the United States of America just after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Being the first African American baby adopted by two white parents, Jaiya John had a unique experience growing up in the United States during the 1960s. Race was the most pervasive theme in this story. Adoption is also a primary theme in Jaiya's story. However, it is secondary to his issues with race because he was part of a white family and thus felt even more different from them rather than just by his being adopted. The third theme that weaves itself through John's story is that of family, his connection to his adoptive family and his eventual connection to his birth mothers' and birth fathers' families. Through reading the narrative it becomes clear that for some transracially adopted children love may not always be enough. Without blatantly stating his opinions and the telling of his feelings growing up, he makes a strong case against transracial adoption. That, or a guide for parents considering it, as John clearly explains what he wishes his parents would have done and said to him throughout his life.

In regards to his new family's way of life he says, "It was I, most of all, who was adopting" (p31). John provides an experiential account of what life was like for him growing up with white parents and a white sister in the predominantly white community of Los Alamos, New Mexico. He was a blessed child and loved by the people in his life but they were all white except for his even darker little brother Greg, who his parents had also adopted. He and Greg struggled growing up with few black role models in their lives."Black entertainers, athletes, and comics, and starving children in Africa: the images of Black folk that were available to us" (96). He and his little brother began to decide their normality in terms of how the media portrayed Black people. As we covered in class, the media is the most negative and stereotyping source of information on race so clearly this wasn't a positive comparison for him at such a young age. 

At this time in the nation's history, many people did not hide how they felt about racial issues and he always felt like the sore thumb that made his family stick out. When he was discriminated against his family would feed him the overused lines, such as: don't listen to them', and 'color doesn't mean anything'. Unfortunately in his world, it meant everything. "I was dealing with a host of race-related issues, and my parents' simplistic messages didn't cut it" (169). His parents wished that he could ignore others' ignorance and overcome it but he claims he was just not that strong as a young person. His mother also had trouble working with their hair which he says was incredibly painful. He was always sad that his hair was such an unnatural thing for even the local barber to try to manage. This differentiating aspect is another element of transracial adoption that was discussed in our class. Many of us came to the consensus that parents need to make an effort to understand how to treat these differences. Fortunately today, I think that information is more available than it was in the 1970s. Although his story will make the reader think twice about how easily White parents can deal with the issues presented by racial differences.

Being one of the only Black children in his school made him feel very insecure about everything, he claims he never felt as intelligent as the other white children in his classes. "As early as preschool I was conscious of physical aspect of my race...The children looked different from me but similar to each other"(36). By the age of five he was withdrawing because he felt so different; the force of the discomfort he felt wasn't enough to allow him to receive any acceptance from the other kids. He believes that if he and his brother had been taught by a black teacher at any point in their lives then that teacher would have seen that the boys' insecurities came from being black in such a predominantly white community. He claims, "I acted the 'good boy' so that the stereotypes I knew some of them had of Black people could not be confirmed through me" (104). This left him feeling alienated to other Black people as well. He felt that they would never accept him into their community completely either. He explicitly say, "I wished my parents could have known more Black people, anywhere, so that we could have had more naturally interacted with them " (272).

According to Jaiya John, White communities and Black communities are different in ways that really do matter. "Anybody who argued that there weren't distinct cultural differences between White Americans and African Americans wasn't living in the society I knew" (243). He finds this out when he moves far away to Oregon. Here, he goes to college and begins to interact with other people of various races whom he says acknowledged each other one way or another because they always felt their minority status. "Culture-more than just holidays and food-is a deeply subtle substance that is with us from birth" (35). As talked about in our class, many adoptees feel a need to find their birth parents or wish to look in the face of someone they have like features with. This is obviously important to John as well.

When he first leaves for college, he drifts from his family and identifies more with the Black community. He has conversations with his parents that he hopes will reveal what their reasoning was for adopting him. He wonders if it's for the 'ethnic spice' that we discussed from one of our class' readings. He finds out that his parents really just wanted to give him a better life. When his mother finally gets frustrated with him she asks if he would've rather them left him in foster care. He understands why she says this but says, "The expectation of indebtedness is the bane of the adopted child" (294). Later in his adult life John realizes that all of this soul searching may be hurting his adoptive family but tells them it's something he needs in his life. He feels that they simply will not ever understand the way he feels different from them but says he appreciates their efforts and loves them for the ways that they did try while he was growing up.

This book has infinite value when understanding race in adoption and getting an alternative point of view. Jaiya John repeats many of his points over and over again and can be a bit wordy at times, but this aspect of his writing definitely made his objectives clear to the reader. I was thankful that they hear his story, for it gives a variety of perspectives on the world that may not have otherwise been presented to me, as he drove his point home; there truly are fundamental differences between cultures. This should not keep us from loving, but it is important to keep in mind in terms of adoption ethics.