The Black Instructor: An Essential Dimension to the Content and Structure of the Social Work Curriculum

Abstract

How can the use of minority faculty be more than visual tokenism for both minority and nonminority students? Is there a role for minority faculty in developing curriculum and in faculty development? In answer to these questions, this paper describes the use one faculty member has made of his Blackness as an essential dimension to the content and structure of the social work curriculum, and its impact on students' professional development. The attitudinal aspects of racism are explored in the context of the relationship of students and the Black instructor, resulting in the conceptualization of racism as a practice issue.