The current study critically analyzes the dress code and uniform policies of 89 New Orleans public charter schools using content analysis. Dress code and uniform policies across the United States are deeply rooted in racism, sexism, and classism and, through their implementation, further contribute to these same oppressions. In this study, the dress code and uniform policies, including the justifications for policy, specific policy rules, and possible consequences for noncompliance, are the primary units of analysis. Drawing on intersectionality and the concept of misogynoir, this study attempts to dissect what school policies communicate about race, class, and gender. The racist, classist, and sexist language deployed within the policies is exposed while specifically centering the disproportionate regulation of young black female bodies in dress code policies. School social workers are uniquely positioned to advocate for more equitable dress code and uniform policies. This study contributes to the larger body of literature for its inclusion of data from an entire city as well as its intersectional approach.
Black students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) contend with racial microaggressions that can lead to negative mental health and academic outcomes. The physical and mental health consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic are well‐known. What remains unknown is how targeted racial hate during a pandemic might have a compounded effect on Black essential workers. The current study examines how future essential workers in helping professions cope with dual crises as they navigate mostly White universities. Study participants were Black university students attending PWIs in the United States enrolled in social work, public health, or psychology programs during the 2020–2021 academic year. Participants completed an online survey that measured racial microaggressions, COVID distress, sense of belonging, engagement in activism, and well‐being. Hierarchical regression models revealed COVID distress predicted poorer well‐being. Also, COVID distress interacted with racial microaggressions to predict well‐being. Findings have implications for developing decolonized learning communities with a liberation pedagogy in community psychology and other helping professions.
In its current form, the field of social work does not reflect the ongoing reality of Black death and the embeddedness of anti-Blackness in everyday life. This omission leads to catastrophic failures of the profession’s most essential tasks: the advancement of social justice and future social workers’ education. This paper will discuss why the police’s ongoing murder of Black people will not be resolved by simply replacing the police with social workers. We will argue that social workers serving Black people must anchor their work in theoretical perspectives articulated by Black people. Finally, we challenge social work to live up to its social justice mission by divesting from systems of social control and anchoring their work in theoretical perspectives articulated by Black people.
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