Dispiriting Generalization

We're putting in an inquiry for two Asian boys. They are slightly above our age range so I called our worker to talk about it and to reinforce the fact that we were very interested.

They're in a far-off state, but not Hawaii (An interstate Hawaii adoption would be unlikely, and besides that, the culture there is so different... moving from Hawaii to Georgia would involve such culture shock and I don't think it would be in the best interests of a child there, unless as a total last resort).

The boys have Anglo identifying names, something along the lines of "John" and "Dave". The worker said, "Oh, those names must mean they were adopted."

I just said "No, no, that's impossible to tell that."

It doesn't matter to me whether they're from a disrupted transracial international adoption or from an Asian-American family. But I find it disturbing that the worker would leap to a conclusion like that based on a first name. I have an Anglo first name and I wasn't adopted; tons of Asian-American families give their kids Anglo first names.

I hope the worker does not proceed with this inquiry making other kinds of weird generalizations. It could potentially be harmful.

I wish I had a manual called "What Black Social Workers Think About Asian Parents".