Open AccessConfronting Historical White Supremacy in Social Work Education and Practice
Author(s) -
Zoila Del-Villar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advances in social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2331-4125
pISSN - 1527-8565
DOI - 10.18060/24168
Subject(s) - white supremacy , sociology , social work , racism , white (mutation) , social justice , power (physics) , denial , context (archaeology) , social change , critical race theory , gender studies , criminology , pedagogy , political science , law , psychology , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , psychoanalysis , gene
Oftentimes, social work education is in denial of its seductive and pervasive relationship with White Supremacy, as if it is exempt in power relations rooted in racial formation. The present paper investigates the historical legacy of racial formation within the United States context and its inception in the field of social work. This paper provides comprehensive definitions of the key terms used in teaching social work practice from an anti-racist social justice lens. Whiteness theory is used to highlight the way social work has perpetuated White Supremacy in the evolution of the profession and Black feminist standpoint is used to examine the experiences of non-White women as they interface with racist and oppressive social systems. I advocate for the use of a social justice pedagogy in social work education to help students think critically and reflectively about their future practice to better understand the oppressive power structures in many of today’s agencies, organizations, and institutions.