Then I'll Say It: Congrats, Sandra Bullock AND baby Louie!

Sandra Bullock’s announcement that she is the proud mom of a new baby boy got a lot of attention yesterday for a lot of reasons, but it wasn’t just because she kept little Louis’ adoption a secret while she dealt with her soon-to-be ex-husband’s creeping. Seems that folks are in a tither over the fact that Sandra’s son is a brown baby. For sure, my “google alert” for “African American baby” was full of Sandra Bullock stories, as if she’s the first, last, and only mom of an African American child. And then there was this from the Twitterati:

Sandra bullock loves black ppl. Blind side, Regina King in Ms Congeniality & now she adopted a black (american) baby. Clap 4 her LOL

Did Sandra Bullock adopt a black baby? I thought that fad had pass in Hollywood just like small dogs in LV bags.

Wish I cud adopt a black baby like Madonna, Angelina Jolie n Sandra Bullock…OH WAIT… I can produce dem frm ma own lovely uterus 🙂

Sandra Bullock is taking this “Blind Side” thing too far…

I mean, good grief: I get the fascination, I guess; Sandra is white, her son is a black boy she adopted from Louisiana, a state she fell in love with after putting in some Hurricane Katrina volunteer work… blah, blah, blah. But really? Are we still seriously questioning whether it’s okay for white parents to adopt black children? In a country where black folks make up 12 percent of the American population but 31 percent of the children waiting to be adopted? And the last possible child to be adopted by anybody no matter the color is a dark-skinned black boy? Why the vitriol? She’s not about to take little Louis and grill him for dinner; she’s vowing to love him strong and raise him right. Why, for God’s sake, is this cause for concern? Debate? Snarkiness?

Of course, transracial adoptions can have their complications; there’ll always be questions about whether the children are getting enough exposure to folks who look like them, or whether the parents will be sensitive enough to the unique needs of black children. And while I agree that white parents who adopt black kids should be just as passionate about their children’s cultural education as they are an academic one, I’m not ever going to suggest that black children should languish in the bowels of the foster care system until someone who looks exactly like them comes along and opens their homes and hearts to them.

I was lucky: My parents, both African American, took me home when I was but a little baby four days after someone, presumably the woman who gave birth to me, left me on the doorsteps of an orphanage. I am forever grateful to them, and eternally in love with them for loving me unconditionally, and raising me with grace. I would feel the same way about them if they were white.

I’ll bet you that 40 years from now, Louie will say the same.

So I’ll say it, even if way too many are focusing on sillier things: Congratulations, Sandra welcome to the mommy club.