Talk about race: using critical race theory to support black social work students and prepare a representative and critical workforce

ABSTRACT

Social work’s (SW) goal of preparing a workforce more representative of the diversity of people served by the profession requires the use of theories that actively confront long-held assumption of White hegemony. This paper centers the discussion of race for its simultaneous invisibility and its power to transform SW educational spaces in the United States (US) context. An overview of the cultural competence (CC) model, a theoretical framework often used to prepare SW practitioners, is provided with a critique of its avoidance of any analysis of race and racism. The ways in which this “color-blind” approach severely limits the CC model’s ability to both recognize and meet the needs of Black SW students as they navigate their dual-identities as professionals-in-training and members of a racial group who has endured historical oppression are explored. Critical race theory (CRT) is offered as an alternative conceptual framework which centers discussions of race and racism, offering opportunities to both recognize and support the learning needs and experiences of Black SW students. Guidelines for adapting SW curricula and assignments to utilize CRT in ways that support the development of critical analytic skills for SW practice are provided. Global implications for this work beyond the American context are discussed throughout.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural competence
• race
• black social work students
• critical race theory
• critical social work practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The terms West/Western, European and White are used here in reference to the construction and dissemination of a caste system based on physical characteristics that ultimately became known as race (Wilkerson, 2020). Originating centuries ago alongside the lucrative conquest and colonial rule of First Nations lands and the enslavement of Africans for maximum profit, race has been used as a means of harnessing, amassing and maintaining power within the physical characteristics of what was designated as White and deprivation of these privileges from all others.

2. Black and White are capitalized in accordance with the anti-racist practice of acknowledging that these terms transcend the description of a simple color, encompassing instead a racial identity worthy of being distinguished from color alone (Nguyen and Pendleton (2020) from the Center for the Study of Social Policy).

3. Classroom and learning space are used interchangeably since COVID-19 transformed in-person classrooms to virtual learning spaces.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tricia N. Stephens

Dr. Tricia Stephens joined the faculty at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College as an Assistant Professor in Fall, 2015. She received her doctoral degree from New York University Silver School of Social Work and completed her pre-doctoral fellowship at the NYU-McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Her research is fueled by a firm belief in the power and possibility of recovery and healing from exposure to trauma and as such she engages in knowledge development that realizes and recognizes trauma with the intention of developing trauma-focused solutions. Her work has direct implications for policy-making, direct practice and teaching. Focusing on poverty-impacted communities of color who have been affected by the child welfare system, Dr. Stephens has engaged in both qualitative and mixed-methods research on both a local and a global scale. She specializes in understanding the social and mental health implications of exposure to trauma with an emphasis on using evidence-informed knowledge to improve outcomes for child-welfare affected parents and their families.

Nyla I. Rock-Vanloo

Nyla Rock-Vanloo is a licensed social worker, trauma-informed psychotherapist and Organizational Development Specialist with the Martha K. Selig Educational Institute at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services. Her expertise is in anti-racist social work practice and anti-oppressive organizational dynamics and she provides consultation and training to professionals and community-based organizations. Additionally, Ms.Rock-Vanloo has served as a research coordinator at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College (City University of New York) on research studies exploring the relationship between complex trauma and systems of oppression.