In Kennedy’s “My Race Problem,” Kennedy claims that using race as preferring one person over another is morally wrong. One convincing example that Kennedy provided was that of a child raised by foster parents. In this example, Kennedy explains that if a child was raised by a foster parent, and the child’s biological parents want the child back, the judge will immorally rule in favor of the biological parents. The reason Kennedy thinks this is immoral is because the foster parents were the ones that provided care to the child, and the biological parents did not.

Although this example is not about race, it could be applied to race in the same way. In an actual court case in Minnesota, a Native American couple wanted to register their baby for adoption in a white family. The case challenges a small law that requires Indians to notify their tribe that their baby will be up for adoption that’s not with another family from the tribe. The reason why the couple challenged this law was because they feared that if they reported it to the tribe, the tribe itself will prevent try and prevent the baby from reaching a white person’s family, and instead they’ll use legal means to make sure the baby will be sent to an Indian’s family instead. The fear from the Indian couple shows that this has probably happened before, and it appears that it’s morally wrong for the Indian tribe to decide the baby’s destination based on its race. In this example, race was used to discriminate the wishes of the Indian couple, and it seems that it’s morally wrong for the tribe to ensure that the baby stays in the hands of an Indian family.

However, there’s another case where it seems that race should be a determining factor. In the medical field, clinics usually describe their parents by a number of biological features, including race. A white couple needed a sperm donor in order to deliver a baby, and the sperm bank provided one, detailing that the race of the sperm is Caucasian. However apparently there was a mix up at the clinic, and the sperm was actually from a black, so the couple gave birth to a black child. In this case, I believe that what the sperm bank did was morally wrong, and it isn’t morally wrong for the couple to be upset, although I have no solution on how to resolve this issue. In this case, the sperm bank gave the couple a false description of the baby’s race, but the real issue that Kennedy would focus on is whether the parents should be upset.

Question

In Kennedy’s “My Race Problem,” Kennedy claims that using race as preferring one person over another is morally wrong. One convincing example that Kennedy provided was that of a child raised by foster parents. In this example, Kennedy explains that if a child was raised by a foster parent, and the child’s biological parents want the child back, the judge will immorally rule in favor of the biological parents. The reason Kennedy thinks this is immoral is because the foster parents were the ones that provided care to the child, and the biological parents did not.

Although this example is not about race, it could be applied to race in the same way. In an actual court case in Minnesota, a Native American couple wanted to register their baby for adoption in a white family. The case challenges a small law that requires Indians to notify their tribe that their baby will be up for adoption that’s not with another family from the tribe. The reason why the couple challenged this law was because they feared that if they reported it to the tribe, the tribe itself will prevent try and prevent the baby from reaching a white person’s family, and instead they’ll use legal means to make sure the baby will be sent to an Indian’s family instead. The fear from the Indian couple shows that this has probably happened before, and it appears that it’s morally wrong for the Indian tribe to decide the baby’s destination based on its race. In this example, race was used to discriminate the wishes of the Indian couple, and it seems that it’s morally wrong for the tribe to ensure that the baby stays in the hands of an Indian family.

However, there’s another case where it seems that race should be a determining factor. In the medical field, clinics usually describe their parents by a number of biological features, including race. A white couple needed a sperm donor in order to deliver a baby, and the sperm bank provided one, detailing that the race of the sperm is Caucasian. However apparently there was a mix up at the clinic, and the sperm was actually from a black, so the couple gave birth to a black child. In this case, I believe that what the sperm bank did was morally wrong, and it isn’t morally wrong for the couple to be upset, although I have no solution on how to resolve this issue. In this case, the sperm bank gave the couple a false description of the baby’s race, but the real issue that Kennedy would focus on is whether the parents should be upset.

mhchen · Answer

According to Kennedy’s view, if the couple is upset because of the baby’s race, then the couple is morally wrong to do so, but I sympathize with the couple since they probably wanted to keep their cultural traditions of a white background, and not because they hated blacks. Traditional culture may not be an important concept to Kennedy, but it is for a lot of other people.

@Shadow

mhchen · Answer

Essay is graded on completion lol, so idc about how bad it is

Shadow · Answer

Ah I have something similar in my English class, as far as short responses for a completion grade. We analyze texts, write a response, then discuss them in class.

Shadow · Answer

Did you discuss this one? Or too controversial to share?

mhchen · Answer

nah we don't discuss essays, only the readings.

The author says "It isn't proper grounds to be proud of one's race" but there are other feelings of positivity that one could feel for race.

But it has to be "accomplished" or you can't feel proud about it.

mhchen · Answer

Basically class debated on whether you can still feel proud on something without accomplishing it themselves.

Shadow · Answer

I mean, can you be proud of things you had to influence or input over?

Shadow · Answer

No*

mhchen · Answer

They thought more alone the lines of "Proud of your school's football team winning but you didn't contribute anything"

Shadow · Answer

Ah I see

Shadow · Answer

Well I guess you can be since the group you are associated with did accomplish something. It is pride through association with them and not in yourself. You are proud of them and happy to be a part of it.

Shadow · Answer

No one particularly cares about the football team example in the sense that pride in school is socially acceptable since it is normative to be competitive within that. When people compete in regards to race, you get Hitler.

Shadow · Answer

To be honest, I wish I got topics like these. Mine aren’t bad nor boring, just not controversial so not as fun. It may seem subjective, but if we talk about the controversial matters, then that helps enable change.

mhchen · Answer

lol xd