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Social workers are waiting too long to find a racial match, Mr Loughton said
The government is updating guidance on adoption in England to stress that consideration of a child's race should not be a barrier to finding a home.
Social workers have long been urged to seek child-parent racial matches.
But Children's Minister Tim Loughton said there was no reason to stop white couples adopting black or Asian babies.
Children from ethnic minorities are over-represented among those seeking adoption, but it typically takes three times as long to place them.
"If it is a great couple offering a good, loving, stable permanent home, that should be the number one consideration," he told the Times.
"Too many social workers are holding out for the perfect match, so suitable couples are turned away and children are staying in care for years as a result," he said.
The current guidelines already say that race should be taken into consideration but should not be a block to an adoption.
But officials said Mr Loughton wanted to stress this point, and to encourage a shift in the way social workers operate.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Social workers are waiting too long to find a racial match, Mr Loughton said The government is updating guidance on adoption in England to stress that consideration of a child's race should not be a barrier to finding a home.
Social workers have long been urged to seek child-parent racial matches.
But Children's Minister Tim Loughton said there was no reason to stop white couples adopting black or Asian babies.
Children from ethnic minorities are over-represented among those seeking adoption, but it typically takes three times as long to place them.
"If it is a great couple offering a good, loving, stable permanent home, that should be the number one consideration," he told the Times.
"Too many social workers are holding out for the perfect match, so suitable couples are turned away and children are staying in care for years as a result," he said.
The current guidelines already say that race should be taken into consideration but should not be a block to an adoption.
But officials said Mr Loughton wanted to stress this point, and to encourage a shift in the way social workers operate.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.