A Double Minority

Jaydon Arslanian

Period 2

Dr. Haslam

English 2010

One day, I was playing one of my favorite games of all time, Madden. A simulation football

game that I still play to this day. I was playing as the Minnesota Vikings, playing against the Kansas City

Chiefs.

It was also one of those days where 11 year-old me was having one of those random, deep

thought sessions. I wasn’t trying to figure out how babies were made, but I was just curious why I had the

parents I did. I wasn’t wanting to be mean at all, I was extremely thankful to have them as my parents

because they supply me with a lot more things than a normal kid would get.

My family may have a different look than most families. I have two white parents, and me and

my brother, who are African-American. Whenever my mom would come in to volunteer at my school,

kids would always say, “Why isn’t your mom the same color as you?” Little me never really took offense

to that because I was young. Now I do find it a little offensive. According to The Institute for Family

Studies, 9% of adopted kindergartners in the U.S. in 2011 were black, compared to 39% white (P. 4). That

is a huge gap that needs to change and become a norm.

I paused my game, put my controller down onto my wooden nightstand next to my gaming setup.

Sadly, that nightstand is out of commission today. I put it down, got up, and made my way up my 13
windy, carpeted stairs. As I was making my way into my kitchen, I felt my heart beat a little faster than

normal. Something unusual for my 11 year-old self, I’m not used to stress yet. I walked in, and as I say

my mom making mac and cheese, I just spit it out.

“Hey mom, why did my other parents give me up?”

She stopped stirring the mac & cheese sauce, dropped the spoon and looked at me. She was stricken. No

parent who adopts can ever be ready for this question.

“What do you mean, honey?”

“I mean why did my other mom and dad not want me?”

This time she looked like a deer in headlights, but only for a moment.

“Come here hon.”

I followed her out of the kitchen and onto the cool, tan, leather couch. My mom and I sat down together,

and began to speak in a nice, soft, warm voice.

“Honey,” She began. “They didn’t not want you, they just wanted a better life for you than they could

have given you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because they didn’t have enough money and they had a lot of other little boys and girls to take care of.”

According to https://www.adoptionstogether.org, “Adoption is one way a woman can ensure her

baby is raised in a financially stable environment.” (P. 3)

“So why did they have me?”

“I don’t know, but what I can tell you is how bad me and Dad wanted you and Jax. We wanted to be able

to give you guys the best life we could. We love you so much, more than anything, and that will never

change.”

“Thanks mommy, I love you too”

I gave her a nice tight hug and walked back down my 13 windy, carpeted stairs to continue my game of

Madden, satisfied and smiling.

 Work Cited

Zill, N. (2017, August 8). The Changing Face of Adoption in the United States. Retrieved

January 28, 2021, from https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-changing-face-of-adoption-in-the-

united-states

Lehmann, M. (2019, November 2). Adoptions together. Retrieved February 18, 2021, from

https://www.adoptionstogether.org/pregnant/why-do-women-give-baby-up-for-adoption/