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Thursday, April 8, 1993
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
IN OUR OPINION
Decisions on adoptions should not include race
Complaints of reverse discrimination are growing more numerous these days. Most of these complaints are about how whites are hurt when unfair preference is given to Blacks or other minorities. Unfortunately, however, reverse discrimination usually hurts minorities as much as it hurts whites.
A prominent example is the current policy that keeps white couples from adopting Black children. The National Association of Black Social Workers calls adoption of Black children by whites "cultural genocide." This inflammatory position discriminates against whites by implying that they cannot raise Black children properly. Sadly, the discrimination ends up hurting Black children at least as much as it hurts white would-be parents. There are around 500,000 children in foster homes, and 40 percent of these are Black. It seems reasonable to try and place Black children with Black parents whenever possible, but there are not enough Black couples to adopt all of the Black children in need of permanent homes.
Responding to this problem, the general membership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People passed the following amendment at their annual convention in July:
WHEREAS, studies of transracial adoption have revealed that the Black children placed in white homes suffered no psychological damage resulting from such placement and neither were those children confused by their racial identity; and
WHEREAS, there are more Black children waiting to be adopted than may be placed with Black families; and
"WHEREAS, adoption as opposed to foster care constitutes a permanent home for children conducive to stability, security, and other attributes of home life:
"BEIT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the following policy shall be adopted:
"If there are Black families available and suitable under the criteria of advancing the best interest of the child,' Black children be placed with such Black families.
"If Black families are not available for placement of Black children, transracial adoption ought to be pursued as a viable and preferred alternative to keeping such children in foster homes."
This is a sensible solution to a real world problem. The executive board of the NAACP overruled this resolution, however, and endorsed the position of the National Association of Black Social Workers. This position sells out the welfare of Black children to an extremist, separatist ideal.
A 20-year study by Professor Rita Simon of American University found that self-esteem and racial identity were no different between transracially adopted children and the children with whom they were raised. Clearly it is in the best interest of children for adoption to be based on parental qualification rather than the race of the parents. This policy should be changed. Adoption should be based on love, not color.
DAVID OLSON FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Kansan editorial board :
Kris Belden, Greg Farmer, Vered Hankin, Jeff Hays, Val Huber, Kyle Kickhaefer, Tiffany Knight, Stephen Martino, Jolinda Mathews, Colleen McCain, Chris Moeser, Simon Naldoza, David Olson, Carol Pfaff, Jeff Reynolds, Simon Ronan, and Michael Taylor
KANSAN STAFF
GREG FARMER
Editor
GAYLE OSTERBERG
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
BILL SKEET. Technology coordinator
General manager, news adviser
Asset Managing...Justin Krupp
News...Mike Guelish
...David Mitchell
Editorial...Stephen Martino
Campus...KC Traver
Sports...David Mitchell
Photo...Larry Kowalski
Fashion...Lynne McAdobe
Graphics...Dan Shupper
STEVE PERRY
Business manager
MELISSAS TERLIP
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES
Sales and marketing adviser
Campus sales mgr ... Brad Brenn
Regional sales mgr ... Wade Baxter
National sales mgr ... Jennifer Pierer
Co-op sales mgr ... Ashley Hessel
Production mgr ... James Lumbrun
            Ashley Langford
Marketing director .. Angela Clevergwyn
Creative director .. Holly Perry
Grant Director .. Mike Grass
Art Director .. Dave Habler
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Timber Co. official explaining how a second-growth tree farm can be as majestic in its way as an ancient old-growth forest.
EITHER THAT OR HE'S WAYING TO THE IMAGINARY SPECIES WHO LIVE THERE
UNIVERSAL PRESS SYND.
3 @1993 THE BUFFALO NEWS
Crotch-grabbing Jackson is no modern day Astaire
Having seen every Fred Astaire movie, I'm qualified to say that not once did Fred Astaire grab his crotch. It's possible that he grabbed his crotch in the privacy of his home or dressing room. But that would be of no concern to the public.
I mention this because Michael Jackson, the alleged superduper star of show biz, has been described by many dance critics as being the Fred Astaire of his generation.
While I'm no expert on dancing, I watched Jackson perform during halftime of the Super Bowl, and I saw little that reminded me of Astaire, other than being skinny.
Their dance styles are not alike. Astaire was always smooth, no matter how fast the dance. But Jackson appears to be suffering from a severe spastic disorder.
Astaire had a bony face that bordered on the homely, but when you looked at that face, there was no doubt he was of the male persuasion.
But when the camera zoomed in on Jackson, I tried to figure out what he looked like. Then it came to me. He looks like an aging female movie star who has had too many face lifts.
That's not a bad way for an aging female movie star to look, but it's unusual for a 34-year-old man. Especially since he selected that look. Either that, or his plastic surgeons were foofing around.
The single biggest difference, though, is that Jackson grabs his crotch. As I said, that's something Astaire never did.
I watched the Super Bowl with several friends, and the first time Jackon grabbed his crotch, Harry said: "Why did he do that?"
"Maybe the poor kid has got the crabs, "Tony said.
COLUMNIST
But Harry said: "No, it can't be the crabs because he's not scratching, which one normally does when so afflicted. He's just grabbing."
"Then it must be something else," Tony said. "Maybe he has to go to the john real bad."
We thought about that for a while, then Mitch said: "No. He's bouncing up and down and twitching and flapping his arms like a duck. You don't do that when you have to go to the john real bad. It would just make the situation worse. So maybe he is reassuring himself that it is still there."
"What is still there?" Tony asked.
"We got it." Miyah said.
"That does not make sense," Harry said. "A crocht is not something you misplace or lose, like your wallet or car keys. Such a loss would surely cause considerable pain."
"As well as embarrassment," Mitch said.
"I think I understand why he is doing it," Hank said. "He has a worldwide audience at the moment, so he is using this opportunity to send a message. He is making a social statement."
"Ah, of course," Harry said. "But what statement is he making?"
"I'm not sure," Hank said. "He could be saying: 'Look, world, I have a crotch.' Or in philosophical terms: 'I grab, therefore it is.'"
"Could be," Mitch said. "Or is he rebelling against traditional sexual inhibitions by saying, through that gesture, that it is OK to grab your crotch in public."
"Actually," Tony said, "if you did that around a schoolyard or on a street corner, you'd get arrested. If you did it in my favorite bar, you'd be tossed out the door. And if you did it in front of my wife, I would hammer you in the chops."
"Yes" Harry said, "but maybe that is his point. It is a victorious crime."
"So is sticking your finger in your nose, Mitch said, 'but I wouldn't go on TV in front of a billion people and stick my finger in my nose.'
Just then, we were joined by Shawn. As you can tell from his name, he is a member of the Baby Boom generation. Thus, he is attuned to popular art and culture.
So we asked him for insights on Jackson's crott-grabbing.
"Oh, that's quite common," he said. "If you watch MTV, the odds are that someone will be grabbing their crotch. Rock performers have been grabbing their crotches for a long time. Madonna is much more widely hailed for that art form. And the audiences are thrilled. Just listen to the roar when Jackson or Madonna grab their crotches."
We pondered that for a while, then Tony said: "We live in a strange world when the most popular male star and the most popular female star get their biggest cheers for grabbing their crotches."
And Mitch said: "I guess it's true—there's no business like show business. So maybe I will stick my finger in my nose."
Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Minority groups need empathy
Lawrence has as small a minority population as any place I can recall.
I can't begin to imagine what it is like to be a member of a minority as underrepresented as African-Americans are at this university. I can guess, however that there are times where you need to place to go to discuss your feelings and experience with others of similar circumstances.
Until we achieve a time when no one notices anyone's race or sex or sexual orientation, Mr. Fritsche, please be mind-minded enough to
Looking up both desegregation and integration in a better dictionary might help Don Fritschie to grasp the subtleties of Samuel Adams' remarks. His letter March 9 on understanding of other others.
understand that others' needs and circumstances are not necessarily your own. At the very least be accepting of others' differences, though I will go so far as to suggest that you not only accept but embrace differences of all kinds as opportunities to broaden your knowledge and enjoyment of the world around us.
Gregory Berry Kansas City senior
STAFF COLUMNIST
The recent collapse of Soviet communism provides the ultimate evidence for the superiority of free-market capitalism. Many people see this as proof of their belief that the perfect world would be eventually solve all of the world's problems.
Belief in the perfection of free markets is the foundation of many arguments against government involvement in environmental matters. The familiar argument goes like this: In a free market, millions of independent buyers and sellers use perfect information to set perfect prices for everything from chewing gum to the shares of corporations. But government decisions are made by bureaucrats using imperfect information, and they tend to be too subjective. Thus, the government that governs least governs best, and we should leave the management of natural resources to the invisible hand of the free market. After all, the free market couldn't possibly make a mistake.
CHAPMAN Free market can't solve environment quandaries
The sad news is that free markets are anything but perfect. The concept of free market capitalism is not at fault here. The problem is with our societal delusion that free markets are always vulnerable to information against government involvement even when government action is the only way to slow consumption and pollution of limited resources.
This argument is central to the irrebutable free market assertions of anti-environmentalists which, like all good fallacies, are absolutely true while completely missing the point. Few would argue that the government is not inefficient, inconsistent, and often stupid. But it's the lazy way out to shift the attack off of the subject of what to do and onto the childishly easy target of what's wrong with government. While ravaging about any regulatory rule that would permit bureaucrats greater control over our lives, the free market perfectionists never address the real question of exactly how the market will halt the degradation of the environment.
1906FM
The free market delusion demands total faith in the wisdom of the marketplace, while failing to acknowledge that buyers don't actually have perfect information. Sure, it's easy to check out competing sellers for the best price on a loaf of bread, but this is where perfect information ends. Free market prices do not reflect the actual cost of goods because they don't include the environmental costs. The price of a fast food burger doesn't include the related loss of rain forest, where a destitute grassland on washed out soil now provides a few brief years of cattle grazing, to be followed by an eternity of uselessness. The price of corn doesn't reflect the related loss of topsoil, or the rapid depletion and pollution of an ancient underground sea that renews itself by inches per year.
The most popular form of the free market delusion may be that markets can always provide the technology to bail out us of any serious mess we create. This is proposed with a straight face even as the most technologically advanced military in the world balls over when it fails. Yet wielding because it's got rough terrain! This blind faith in technology, like all of the other perfectionist claims for the marketplace, should be recognized as being irrefutable false.
Steve Chapman is an Overland Park senior majoring in systematics and ecology
THE SHIRT I'M USUALLY ON NEEDED
TO BE WASHED, SO I TOWK A COUPLE
OF DAYS OFF TO RELAX AND LET
ME MIND REST.
by Moses Smith