outsiders within explained

I figured that I should explain the title of the book before launching into other insights I gleaned from reading it!

Essentially the authors of the book, who are all transracial adoptees, in one way or another write about how they felt/continue to feel like outsiders because of growing up in a predominantly white community/society. However, growing up in the dominant culture has also given these adoptees from different cultural and racial backgrounds insight into the dominant white community. So while many of the authors of this book refer to profound feelings of being an outsider they also acknowledge that they hold powerful insight from being within mainstream society. The "outsider within" standpoint enables transracial adoptees to gain unique insights that may not be available to those who share the worldview of the dominant community/culture.

"We on the periphery, learning, and watching from the outside, have a particular power with revolutionary roots." Kim Diehl

Who better to share their experience then those living it? This is why I'm choosing to do more reading from the adoptee perspective. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is either considering transracial adoption or is already parenting a transracial adoptee. We can't limit our understanding of adoption to just what we hear from the agencies or read in Adoptive Families magazine. I believe that each member of the triad (adoptee, birthparents, adoptive parents) deserves a voice. Now if we could only get some of these agencies and social workers who work in adoption to understand that...