De-Centering Whiteness Through Revisualizing Theory in Social Work Education, Practice, and Scholarship

Abstract

Institutions that frame social work education and prepare future practitioners are firmly rooted in hegemonic philosophies and practices that perpetuate colonization, oppression, and white supremacy. In recognizing that white supremacy is a mechanism of social control, that our current social structure is grounded in liberal-patriarchal capitalism, and that social work conforms to prevailing social norms, we, as social workers, must acknowledge our complicity in perpetuating a white supremacist master narrative (Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014). The white supremacist ideology inherent within Western social work literature, teaching methodologies, and practice strategies only serves to perpetuate an oppressive system. This structure does not envision social workers as agents of change, but rather as essential cogs of the status quo who foster client dependence on a system that is inherently marginalizing. One mechanism for disrupting the white supremacy that has become a master narrative in social work is to create a counter-narrative (Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014). This paper creates a counter-narrative by using the pyramid of white supremacy framework (Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, 2008; Tuzzolo, 2016) to critique social work and deconstruct post-racial fallacies ascendant within the profession, and re-visualizes ecological systems framework as a mechanism for de-centering whiteness in social work scholarship, practice, and education.

Conceptualizing Anti-Racist Social Work Pedagogy

“…Cultural competence theory focuses on micro-level viewpoints and promotes the ideals of cultural awareness, tolerance, and culturally relevant interventions (Abrams & Moio, 2009;Ortiz & Jani, 2010;Perez, 2021). Some of the critiques of cultural competence and multiculturalism frameworks are that they are "safe" frameworks that do not explore systemic conditions of oppression, and at times, they perpetuate more biases than they interrupt (Crudup et al, 2021;Diggles, 2014;Franco, 2020;Grosland, 2011;Gutierrez et al, 1999;Park, 2005;Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014). Kishimoto (2018) suggests that multiculturalism assumes that diverse groups of people exist within an equal society and fails to recognize the power and oppression that exist between those diverse groups of people, thus erasing the idea of racism.…”

“…"All institutions are inevitably shaped by the society in which they operate, American academia was originally designed to expand the minds and the ideas of White men only, while excluding everyone else" (King-Jordan & Gil, 2021, p. 375). Literature suggests that the design of the United States' education system was rooted in structures and practices that replicated colonization, oppression, and White supremacy in order to maintain the power structures of dominance and oppression in the United States and that those structures and practices have been adopted as academic structure (Crudup et al, 2021;Kishimoto, 2018;Perez, 2021). Abrams and Moio (2009) suggest that the inequitable power structure within higher education may be invisible to some, because racism is "ordinary and embedded, it's structural functions affect our ways of thinking are often invisible, particularly to people holding racial privilege" (p. 251).…”

#SocialWorkSoWhite

“…Social work reproduces whiteness daily (Jeffery, 2005), through centering whiteness in education (e.g., teaching a white-based social work history and failing to provide counter narratives), practice (e.g., client surveillance and gatekeeping of resources), and scholarship (e.g., excluding BIPOC knowledge; Crudup et al, 2021;Frey et al, 2021). White privilege is a product of white supremacy (Beck, 2019), and privilege is the mechanism of oppression remaining invisible in dominant groups (Simon et al, 2021).…”

Integrating Critical, Engaged, and Abolitionist Pedagogies to Advance Antiracist Social Work Education

“…Nevertheless, antiracism requires an understanding of racism as a structural issue and structural solutions that transform historically grounded inequities. Given the structural nature of racism, we see the critical paradigm as the only lens that can inform social work actions to achieve social justice consistent with professional ethics (Crudup et al, 2021;Hanna et al, 2021;Wright et al, 2021). A critical assessment of how racism is perpetuated at all levels of social interaction, is essential for dismantling the root causes of racism.…”

“…Our collective work includes our commitment to supporting each other though ongoing dialogue about these pedagogies and skill sharing, working with other white people committed to racial justice, and working in solidarity with people of color in our department and community. Ongoing commitment to learning from critical race theory and critical white studies scholarship as well as mobilizing with other white people committed to antiracism is an essential aspect of our work (Crudup et al, 2021;Gregory, 2021;Kivel, 2017). For example, in 2020 Jelena participated in a summer-long white accountability dialogue group with staff and faculty from diverse university departments including anthropology, communication, physics, and student affairs, which provided insight into not only how whiteness operates within social work but within all academic environments and processes.…”