by Shaun T. Koh

Created on: March 01, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

There was a momentary silence as the Ethiopian-born youth introduced his parents to those milling around. The family had just arrived at their assigned table for the dinner and awards ceremony. The parents were proud of their son's selection as a college minority scholarship award winner.

But the introduction had unsettled at least one man at the table. He hustled off to find other members of the scholarship award committee.

There could be a problem. Something wasn't right.

While the youth was clearly African and a minority, his parents were not. His mother had blond hair and blue eyes.
Fortunately, the powers-that-be that night dismissed the discrepancy and the youth received his award.

"In a country obsessed with dealing with race, identity and filling in the right box, I am hopeful that we are the many generations that will help our country understand and accept that love, friendship and family have no bounds," said Joy Kim Lieberthal, a Korean adoptee, whose Jewish adoptive parents have encouraged her unique identity.

Lieberthal spoke at an annual summer camp for families with children adopted from India at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Pa. While my wife and I have adopted a daughter from India, Lieberthal's frank discussion also forced adoptees like myself, to confront a reality I had long ignored.

For an article last year in the Westchester (N.Y.) Journal, Lee-Ann Hanham recalled growing up on Long Island. She could easily forget she had been adopted from South Korea, until she passed a mirror.
"And you would stop and you would be surprised that, 'Oh my God, I'm not 5-foot-10, blond-haired and blue-eyed," she said.

In 2005, the Department of State issued orphan visas to U.S. families for 7,906 children from China; 4,639 from Russia; 3,783 from Guatemala and 1,630 from South Korea. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. These were figures from the top four countries.

International adoptions are changing this country's demographics and challenging our understanding of race and culture.
Such as the time when a third-grade teacher asked students to draw family trees.

An Asian-Indian girl stared at the blank paper on her desk unsure of what to do. An African-American girl cried.
The first girl was found abandoned on the streets in India and spent her early years in an orphanage before being adopted and coming to America. The other girl was a foster child with a history of abuse.

The American family today is far more diverse than it has ever been.

J.J. Johnson,

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