scholarly journals Wrestling the Elephant

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 545-565
Author(s):  
Carolyn Mak ◽  
Mandeep Kaur Mucina ◽  
Renée Nichole Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
White Supremacist ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Institutional Policies ◽  
Classroom Dynamics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Whiteness As Property

White supremacist ideology is the elephant in the social work classroom, negatively impacting educators’ abilities to facilitate discussion and learning. One of the most effective ways to dismantle and organize against white supremacy is to politicize the seemingly benign moments that occur in the classroom that can create discomfort for students and instructors. Politicization includes identifying and addressing both the racial (micro-) aggressions that occur in the classroom and the processes and institutional policies that create complacency and lull us to sleep. In this conceptual piece, we use a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework to understand how white supremacy perpetuates itself in the classroom, with a particular focus on whiteness as property. As well, we explore what it means to decolonize the classroom. Using a vignette based on our teaching experiences, we use these two frameworks to analyze classroom dynamics and interactions, and discuss how implications for social work education include waking from the metaphorical sleep to recognize the pernicious effects of whiteness and white supremacy. Included are practical individual teaching, relational, and systemic suggestions to enact change.

scholarly journals The Politics of Resistance From Within

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 421-437
Author(s):  
Patrina Duhaney ◽  
Yahya El-Lahib
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Classroom Dynamics ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Politics Of Resistance ◽  
Work Education

Everyday racism embedded in all facets of society, coupled with ongoing injustices against racialized people globally, have reignited an urgent action to turn the gaze within social work education. There is a need to challenge and resist white supremacy that continues to institutionalize systemic racism and justify state control of social and political processes. These current realities are in direct contradiction to the neoliberal push for state withdrawal from social programming and essential services. Yet the interconnectedness between neoliberalism, white supremacy and fascist ideologies has gone undetected in social work circles resulting in a political and ideological vacuum in the profession. Within the social work curricula, there is a lack of attention and involvement to effectively dismantle white supremacy and racism that are perpetuated within and through the profession. The social work classroom has been a natural place to incubate a new wave of resistance that has the potential of changing the face of the profession. Considering the deleterious effects white supremacy has for racialized bodies within academic spaces, we assert the embodiments of resistance with a call to action for social work scholars, students, administrators and practitioners. These key actors must reject the legacy of white supremacy in our profession that acts as social control agents serving the state's interests and perpetuating its hegemony. We explore some of the ways in which we confront and disrupt white supremacy, which includes interrogating and dismantling dominant discourses, systemic and institutional academic racism (teaching, research and service), social work curriculum and priorities, and racist classroom dynamics that have been shaped by whiteness that continues to impact the interactions between racialized and white students and professors. We conclude with a call to infuse social work with practices and approaches that equip students with knowledge and tangible tools to enact change beyond academic spaces.  

scholarly journals Critical Race Theory: A Content Analysis of the Social Work Literature

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Erica Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Diversity ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is both a theoretical and practical framework, which promotes a space to deeply engage in discourses of race. CRT highlights the importance of conceptualizing race, racism, power dynamics and structural inequalities. Although the social work profession emphasizes the importance of integrating cultural and racial diversity into social work education, practice and research, the integration of CRT within social work will promote racial competency essential for social work professionals. This article reviewed 14 social work peer-reviewed articles exploring the need to integrate Critical Race Theory. 

scholarly journals Decentering Whiteness in Social Work Curriculum

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 801-820
Author(s):  
Stephanie Odera ◽  
M. Alex Wagaman ◽  
Ashley Staton ◽  
Aaron Kemmerer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Racial Identities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education

The social work profession has historically been dominated by the presence and perspectives of whiteness. The centering of whiteness in social work education is reflected in course offerings, course content, assignment construction, and inherent racialized assumptions about who clients and social workers will be in practice spaces. Critical race theory (CRT) and liberation theory provide a framework for considering how to make visible the ways in which white supremacy is embedded in social work education, and to identify strategies for disrupting its presence by decentering whiteness. The purpose of this project is to foster critical thought about ways to dismantle racism and white supremacy in social work educational spaces. Using the reflexive methodology of collaborative autoethnography, the four authors - two course instructors and two students - with varying racial identities and positionalities, reflected on the experiences of coming to, being in, and transitioning out of the course. Areas of convergence and divergence in the autoethnographic reflections revealed strategies such as embracing vulnerability, promoting authentic relationships, and normalizing emotional as well as cognitive engagement for decentering whiteness in social work education. Implications and recommendations for social work educators and students committed to engaging in anti-racist practice are also discussed

Promoting Awareness and Understanding of Microaggressions in Social Work Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-169
Author(s):  
Jermaine J. Monk ◽  
Brenda Williams-Gray
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Work Education

BackgroundThis pilot study, conducted at a public univerisity in an urban community, collected the experiences of 42 social work students enrolled in a required course on diversity.ObjectiveThis research utilizes Critical Race Theory as a framework and expands on the themes experienced by recievers of microaggression insults, assaults, and invalidation (Sue et al., 2007).MethodsParticipants in this qualitative study completed three survey questions about: their microaggression experiences, immediate responses, and how they felt.ResultsStudent feelings provided beginning insights as to how they coped with their microaggression experiences.ConclusionSocial work educators may find this research supports the importance of cultural awareness and culturally responsive pedagogy.

scholarly journals Understanding and Confronting Racial Microaggression

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shandra Forrest-Bank
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Racial Microaggression ◽  
Sensitive Issue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
Recent Developments

Racial discrimination is a matter of public health and social justice and an issue that lies at the very heart of the social work profession. Modern forms of racial discrimination are frequently hidden, subtle, and unintended. This type of discrimination, described by the construct of racial microaggression, poses significant challenges to social work practitioners, educators, and researchers striving to promote justice and equality. The construct, however, also offers a powerful tool for understanding and intervening in discrimination. This paper defines and traces recent developments related to the concept of racial microaggression and discusses how acts of microaggression perpetuate prejudice and oppression. The tenets of Critical Race Theory, in which the construct of microaggression is grounded, is presented with a discussion for why postracial discourse may be counterproductive toward efforts aimed at deconstructing and eliminating racism. The paper concludes with specific recommendations for how the social work profession can integrate knowledge about microaggression into practice, policy, education, research, and intervention in a way that avoids potential pitfalls associated with addressing this sensitive issue.

scholarly journals Moving From Multiculturalism to Critical Race Theory Within a School of Social Work

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 876-897
Author(s):  
Saanà A. Polk ◽  
Nicole Vazquez ◽  
Mimi E. Kim ◽  
Yolanda R. Green
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Personnel Practices ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
School Of Social Work

The continued presence of racism and white supremacy has risen to a crisis level as today’s global pandemic, police abuse targeting Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) communities, and mass urban uprisings rock the nation. This article presents a case study of a West Coast school of social work that has carried out a five-year systematic campaign to move all levels of the program beyond a multicultural orientation towards critical race theory. This study reveals the results of a self-organized cross-racial committee within a school of social work, motivated by an ambitious goal to implement a racial justice orientation throughout the school’s personnel, practices, policies, and curricula. The committee has been further characterized by its commitment to engage across the power-laden divisions of field faculty, tenure track faculty, and administrative staff. The article offers documented stages of development, narratives from across differences of identity and professional role, and thick descriptions of strategies that led to the adoption and infusion of an intersectional critical race analysis throughout the school’s curricula. The organic development of the campaign and the leveraging of opportunities throughout the campus and across campuses offer important lessons for other schools of social work undergoing transformational change.

scholarly journals Critical Race Theory in Social Work Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Constance-Huggins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Divided Society ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Different Cultures

The multicultural approach is the hallmark of social work education. It pushes individuals to develop awareness of their own perspective and to acknowledge the legitimacy of other cultural views. Yet, it does not provide an opportunity for students to address the striking persistence of disparities between different cultures in the United States. Scholars contend that failure to directly and seriously address the striking inequality in a society leads to a divided society with self-destructive tendencies. In this paper I postulate that fully embracing critical race theory (CRT) in social work education can help to overcome the shortcomings of the current multicultural approach in addressing disparity in the United States. Keywords: critical race theory, multicultural, social work, education

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