For years, we have heard that if White families don’t adopt enough non-White foster children, White people are racist. However, if White families do adopt non-White foster children, then they are also racist. Are you noticing a pattern here?
Fourteen members of the Minnesota House and five members of the Senate are sponsoring HF 1071 to put tribal authorities in direct control of child welfare issues on tribal lands.
Rep. Heather Keeler primarily authored the bill. She also published a tirade on Facebook denouncing “White Saviors.” She says that White families who adopt an American-Indian foster child are committing genocide.
Keeler describes herself as a person “of color.” She holds membership in the Yankton Sioux tribe but lives over 300 miles away from the Yankton Sioux reservation. The tribe requires members to be 1/8th Yankton Sioux. Keeler has two sons. One looks Black, and one looks White.
Keeler also issued a public press release about the bill:
“Raising the next generation and keeping them in our Indigenous families is essential to preserving our culture, language, traditions, and way of life. We need to protect our Indigenous families and the integrity of our relatives. Our next seven generations are sacred to our community, and taking them away and stripping them of their identity is a form of genocide. We cannot allow these atrocities to continue. We need to act now to ensure the next generation of our community stays within our tribal community. We must protect our family lineage and the existence of our tribal nations.” – Heather Keeler
