Motherhood So White (Nefertiti Austin)

#173 — Why is default motherhood so white in our cultural storytelling? In America, the word "mother" is nearly always describing white motherhood. That's what Nefertiti Austin, a single African American woman, discovered when she decided she wanted to adopt a Black baby boy out of the foster care system. Eager to finally join the motherhood ranks, Nefertiti was shocked when people started asking her why she wanted to adopt a "crack baby" or told her that she would never be able to raise a Black son on her own.

She realized that American society saw motherhood through a white lens, and that there would be no easy understanding or acceptance of the kind of family she hoped to build. She is the author of Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America, which went on to become an Amazon bestseller.

Nefertiti Austin joins us on the show to talk about motherhood, race, adoption, and the white lens that is applied to motherhood stories in America, and more broadly, in Western cultures today. We talk about being a single mom and her journey from being a law student to becoming a fiction writer to today, her career in nonfiction writing and publishing. We dig into the mistruths around what's told about being a single mom, adoption, and blackness.

For full show notes, episode sponsors, and quotes, go to www.startupparent.com/173