AGAINST RACISM COVER IMAGES: Aaron Deason
Love kNOws, Indianapolis, IN December 2014
I grew up in the South in the 80s. The chasm between races was wide still. We “had black friends.” We were not racists, except black boys better not date our white women. Girls breaking that rule were cast out by the whites to never regain white status. We whispered behind our hands at her. She was forever tainted, and the “miscegenated monkeys” she produced had no home with either race occupying a barren liminality. Children are the forgotten in wars.
In 2015, three beautiful children came to our house through the foster system. Two previous placements with African-American families and one placement with a white family had not worked out because the children were too hard to handle… at ages 4, 2, and 1. Through the two years of fostering them our caseworker fought against us because “white people should not raise black kids.” She was correct except love does not know color. Hate does. Children are the forgotten in wars. We adopted them in 2017. White people are not raising black kids. We are raising our children. We are a family.
We took this black and white picture to show the color of love knows no boundaries. This picture sits inside our front door as a reminder for all who enter our lives and homes to love more and hate less. Love knows no color…. Love kNOws
Aaron Deason
PhD Candidate, Health Communication
School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University
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