Letter: Black and white answers to mixed-race adoption

YOUR PIECE on same-race adoption ('I didn't need reminding that I was black', 18 July) implies that some rigid dogma is working against the interests of black children.

There are a range of positive reasons why it is preferable for black children to be placed with black families:

1) The importance of providing a child with a positive self-image.

2) All black people will be on the receiving end of racist comments, so-called jokes, negative discrimination. It seems more relevant for black parents to help black children cope with the effects of racism.

3) Every child has a right to have her or his cultural identity respected and encouraged. This is a requirement of the Children Act 1989.

Your use of the word 'apartheid' was unfortunate. To imply that black children living with black families in mixed areas, attending mixed schools, constitutes apartheid is nonsense.

Many white carers might provide excellent care for black children and they will continue to be needed while sufficient black families are being sought. However, the ideal remains that children, in their own interests, should be placed with families of the same ethnic group.

Derek Ross

Mold, Clwyd