A Critical Introduction

Abstract

In this volume we are concerned with a radical but systematic approach to the study of some of the problems which minority children and adolescents face in white, and largely racist, societies. The chapters which follow highlight four areas-the attempts, unsuccessful in our view, by scientific racists to show that black children are biologically inferior to white; problems faced by attempts to change racist attitudes in students by curriculum innovation in the race-relations field; the problems of identity, self-esteem and self-concept faced by black children in a white, racist society; and the problems encountered by some black and mixed-race children whose family life has been disorganised by the conditions of life faced by black people in Britain. In particular, we discuss in some detail the degree to which transracial adoption is a viable solution for some black and mixed-race children who would otherwise be brought up in institutions. We shall also consider the degree to which adoption studies demonstrate the powerful effects of environment upon the scholastic achievement of young children.