[PurpleLove08]

Though I don't want any children of my own, I have great respect for anyone who chooses to foster or adopt a child.
It's so much easier (in some cases) to have a biological child and yet so many people forget all the children in the world who don't have a loving home.

I really do hope the OP chooses to come to AR.
I'll probably never meet you but it's always good to have quality newcomers to relocate in your state (IMO).

[Capt. Dan]

I find alot of these posts to be ridiculous. Some of the posters make it seem that much of Arkansas has an annual Bash a Gay/Black Week. I think you need to come into the 21st century and remember that Little Rock Central High School was some 50 years ago. Do you honestly think that the corporations that have headquartered in Arkansas would have done so if it was as racist and violent as some of the posters here make it sound? Do you actually think some Razorback Redneck is just out looking for a Gay/Black family to torment on a saturday night? They arent! Because they are too busy just trying to make ends meet like the rest of the world to have time to worry about racial/adoption issues! To the OP--Just move to Eureka Springs and enjoy your new life and kids. As long as you are a productive part of Arkansas society NO ONE WILL BOTHER YOU!

[joebaldknobber]

The OP should move to California. California will give you money.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Capt. Dan

I find alot of these posts to be ridiculous. Some of the posters make it seem that much of Arkansas has an annual Bash a Gay/Black Week. I think you need to come into the 21st century and remember that Little Rock Central High School was some 50 years ago. Do you honestly think that the corporations that have headquartered in Arkansas would have done so if it was as racist and violent as some of the posters here make it sound? Do you actually think some Razorback Redneck is just out looking for a Gay/Black family to torment on a saturday night? They arent! Because they are too busy just trying to make ends meet like the rest of the world to have time to worry about racial/adoption issues! To the OP--Just move to Eureka Springs and enjoy your new life and kids. As long as you are a productive part of Arkansas society NO ONE WILL BOTHER YOU!

Capt. Dan........

Please don't let *fact* cloud the spirit of the posts.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by RogMar

Capt. Dan........

Please don't let *fact* cloud the spirit of the posts.

Youre right. Sometimes common sense doesnt work on these forums!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Luv4ThePaws

Have you lived in Eurkea Springs, Hot Springs or Fayetteville? If you haven't I don't think you have a good overview of these towns..

I can understand why your thinking of adopting a child from Ethiopia may be viewed in a different way. This seems to be the treandy thing to do right now, which is fine, but what about all the racially mixed and black children here in our own country that do not have families...why not adopt one of them or a child from Mexico or central America?? Why Africa?

Nita

Mod Cut: Personal Attack I spent a few summers in AR and although parts of it were very pretty and some pockets of it were more open-minded than others, I would not feel comfortable with my family being surrounded by small-town narrow-minded people that may not except them. I felt that unless the OP moved to a more progressive area within the state, he may not have the warm welcome he and his children deserve, especially since the kids have already been through so much already.

For you to say our decision to adopt an Ethiopian child is the trendy thing to do is ridiculous and very low class on your part. Maybe our decision to adopt from there is because they have the most orphans in the world or because 1 in 5 children will not live to see their first birthday and 2 out of 5 will not live to age ten. They aren't even in state run orphanages or foster homes like in this country. They live and die on the streets, babies being left in gutters and being picked apart by dogs. Some do manage to make it in to orphanages run by international adoption agencies, but many more die before they have the chance to. The lack of clean water, a horrific number of HIV deaths and years of civil war have all led to the vast number of orphans. I am not part of the cause because it is trendy. What is the difference between adopting an African child and a Central American or Mexican one?? Either way, they are all children who need homes and Ethiopia just happens to be more poverty-stricken and have more orphans (4.8 million at UNICEF's last count in 2005). Instead of looking at us as doing something good for the world, you point out reasons why we should ascribe to your way of thinking.

Is this how people in Arkansas really are to white parents with a black child?? If so, perhaps the OP SHOULD stay away from judgemental people like yourself who do not know the whole situation. And, yes, the foster care system is not the best in this country and there are 500,000 kids in foster care but at least abandoned kids in the U.S. have a place to sleep at night and can go to school for free and drink potable water. That is definately not the same for abandoned children in Ethiopia unless you count the dirt street they lay on as a suitable bed. You have to pay for school in that country, so hardly any children are ever educated. We are adopting from the country whose children have the most need so please do not pick apart our decision with your bitter assumptions.

Kari

*Take all of the kids under 18 in New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia and remove their parents. You now have the number of children who are orphans in Ethiopia- 6 MILLION by current estimates.*

and because of the need for decent foster care in our country my husband and I did adopt and foster several kids from America...In fact one we are meeting with for the first time in 30 years, next week. We are flying out to Ca tomorrow and will spend a week with her and her partner. We are staying at Lake Tahoe. Our kids will be going as well. The wonderful thing about this story, after all these years, she hired a private detective to find us..

Perhaps you too might want to now judge people. I am glad the Op has decided to give AR a second look, we do have many places in this state that are not totally backwards and are accepting. I think one needs to live in a place to be able to judge it..

Nita

[matthewsmiley]

conway might be a good place for you to move to cuz we have gay people here and nothings happened to them but if u really want to move to arkansas conway or hot springs would probably be the best places just dont move to sum small town where everybody knows each other cuz they're kinda hostile towards outsiders

[CESpeed]

Originally Posted by benGinTx

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. It is sounding like Arkansas may not be such a great place for us right now. We live in Texas currently, and there are plenty of towns that we would not consider living in, but there are a few places where we can feel somewhat welcomed, like the town we live in currently. I had hoped that maybe Arkansas had some pockets too where a family like ours could feel accepted.

We are aware of the recent legislation concerning adoption, but since we would have the process finalized before moving we weren't too concerned about that. After all, as evidenced by the fact that we've lived in Texas and Florida, we can handle living in a conservative area if the citizens are in general at least enlightened enough to be kind to others regardless of their personal beliefs (if only more "Christians" really were Christ-like...).

We also realize that there are lots of more progressive areas in various states to choose from, but for whatever reason they tend to be more expensive. Due to our desire to own a large piece of land in a beautiful area with a mild climate, a lot of those places end of being cost prohibitive. We are fortunate in that we both work remotely and can therefore consider places that may not have a strong job market, but do have cheaper land.

Thanks again to all for your responses and the kind words.

The search continues! )

Ben

I hope you realize that most of the responses you received were from people who do not live in nor are from Arkansas. I think that if you moved to one of the more progressive areas (after the adoptions are final) you will be fine. Fayetteville has a large number of people from California moving there and Little Rock/North Little Rock has a high population of homosexuals as does Eureka Springs.

Best of luck.

[jadbrosto]

this is all crap! little rock hostile towards gays? you would not believe the gay population in LR! i see white couples with black children all the time! I see interracial couples all the time! that goes without mentioning eureka or f'ville. LR is much more tolerant to alternative lifestyles than these people here are saying. we have to be, as LR is becoming much more culturally diverse in the last few years. women with headscarfs, i see it all the time, but WHO CARES!! but i am not a bible toting, judgment making religious freak that has nothing else to do but worry about others business! and i know many many others like myself. i would not take the other posts to heart, LR is not culturally and intellectually 1955 as one post said. maybe they are just hostile towards alternative lifestyles and don't want to admit it. WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU IN LR!!!!!!!!!!!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jadbrosto

this is all crap! little rock hostile towards gays? you would not believe the gay population in LR! i see white couples with black children all the time! I see interracial couples all the time! that goes without mentioning eureka or f'ville. LR is much more tolerant to alternative lifestyles than these people here are saying. we have to be, as LR is becoming much more culturally diverse in the last few years. women with headscarfs, i see it all the time, but WHO CARES!! but i am not a bible toting, judgment making religious freak that has nothing else to do but worry about others business! and i know many many others like myself. i would not take the other posts to heart, LR is not culturally and intellectually 1955 as one post said. maybe they are just hostile towards alternative lifestyles and don't want to admit it. WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU IN LR!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you are right. I think sometimes a little bigitry appears to be worse than it is..It doesn't take many stares or comments to give an opinion that isn't always factual..Are different life style 100% accepted anywhere? Mostly not, but every year things become better. Hopefully one of these days no one will pay much attention period. There was a time when if a Catholic married anyone outside the church they were sinners or OMG, what about Jewish/Christian marriages? None of these are issues today, not even in most of Arkansas. Yes, I believe Little Rock is becoming more diverse every year.

Nita