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  • Graduate students of multiple racial identities in predominantly White institutions enter social work programs with a wide range of knowledge about and experiences of White Supremacy, particularly the ways in which structural forms of racism continue to inflict harm, block opportunities, and perpetuate wealth inequities. In addition, White students are often challenged to grasp the ways they have been socialized to participate in perpetuating White Supremacy. This wide range of knowledge and experiences makes it likely that students will experience a range of emotions and defensive resistance necessitating skillful pedagogical design and facilitation of class interactions. Intentional use of theoretical frameworks with experiential activities can deepen self-awareness and understanding of the systemic nature of White Supremacy (Okun, 2010). In this manuscript, four students and two instructors discuss their learning experiences within a course addressing White Supremacy for students of multiple racial identities in a predominantly White institution. Post-course dialogue amongst these multiracial authors identified six core areas of learning when examining intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural racism, cultural wealth of BIPOC peoples, and anti-racism actions. Two primary implications for education are: Weave conceptual frameworks with interpersonal experiential activities throughout the course design, and attend to interactional power dynamics during class meetings. © 2021 Authors, Vol. 21 No. 2/3 (Summer 2021), 821-840,.

  • Many schools of social work around the United States of America wrote anti-racism statements because of the recent murders of Black and Brown people. In this contribution, the authors describe a challenging and tense discussion of racism and anti-racism leading to a group process about oppression and anti-oppression in the social work profession. For some, the urgency to address racism led to tactics and strategies that got in the way of social workers engaging in anti-oppressive practices. While the structure of higher education often reinforces traditional hierarchies of power, the profession of social work calls us to promote our core values of social justice, integrity, and the importance of human relationships as we strive for an anti-oppressive future. Consequently, social work faculty may experience role conflict as we navigate these tensions. We believe it is important to harness and process such discomfort as we critically examine the power dynamics within our own department, and our own profession. This voluntary, ad hoc group, composed of a diverse group of faculty members, provides space for ongoing mutual aid, consciousness raising, appropriate discomfort, and accountability. If anti-racism is the goal, then anti-oppression is how we get there.

Last update from database: 3/13/26, 4:15 PM (UTC)

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