Prequel Meta - Tumblr Posts

There is a popular star wars post circulating that basically says “the jedi are baby stealers” is a stale take that isn’t true, and it sets my teeth on edge every time. It’s international adoption, guys. It’s literally international adoption.

The jedi come to other planets to find kids who are force sensitive so they can take the children away and train them to be jedi. “But the parents willingly give their kids up!” you protest. No offense . . . but who the fuck cares? You know who also willingly give up their children? Parents from other countries to american couples—oftentimes white christan couples. There is in fact a lot of overlap between the way the jedi operate and the way international adoption operates.

The jedi take kids from other cultures with the belief that they’re bringing the kids into a better environment where they’re less likely to fall to the dark side. The jedi don’t allow the kids to retain connections with their families because they believe it would place the kids at a higher risk of falling to the dark side. (I could go on a tangent about how the jedi using the dark side as a catch-all reason for why things are bad is similar to how christians use hell, but that’s another story.) The jedi only take children three and under because . . . because why? Because children over three are harder to indoctrinate? Because children over three are too old to convince them to reject their birth families? Gee! That’s not at all similar to international adoption! (/s) One might even suggest that the jedi are essentially a picture of white saviorism on a galactic scale.

It’s me. I’m saying that.

Look. International adoption involves stripping children—usually children of color—of their heritage, culture, and families. As a person of color who was internationally adopted, i think i’m justified in pointing out the overlap. If you’re a person of color or someone who was internationally adopted, feel free to disagree with me! White jedi stans . . . stay in your lane.