   When Your Child First Notices Race  How do you make sure your
child feels good about herself?  by Sophia Chin  Four-year-old
Elizabeth came home from preschool in tears. A classmate had
pulled up the corners of his eyes and said, "Your eyes are like
this!"  "My daughter was crushed," says Julia, who adopted
Elizabeth from China as an infant. "Last year, Elizabeth had no
clue about race or being different. Now she talks about it all
the time."  Julia's experience is typical for Caucasian parents
who adopt transracially. How do they instill a positive sense of
racial identity in their children?  Start early. If parents are
reticent about introducing the subject, children may fill in the
blanks with their still-immature understanding. For example,
three-year-old Lindsay wanted to give her Indian friend, Ashoka,
a bath because "his skin is dirty."  This is also the age when
children begin to absorb negative stereotypes from the larger
culture. Since "black" often carries negative connotations--bad
guys, death-