Courageous Conversations: Addressing Institutional Racism in Education

1. Institutional Racism in Education: School Social Workers Engaging in Courageous Conversations To Promote the Healing and Achieving of our Students MARVA FURLONGUE-LAVER MSW

2. What will we do today? • Engage in courageous conversations about Institutional Racism • Explore how our roles as Social Workers and can either encourage, feed or dismantle Institutional Racism • Reflect individually and collectively on how we can make a difference as Social Justice Advocates and Change Agents

3. Focus on how society, institutions and structures maintain racism • Explore social workers’ role in this macro issue • Explore how social work and other helping professions and the systems through which these professions evolved historically are part of a larger society in which policies, resources and practices are designed to benefit some groups significantly more than others • (Berzin & O'Connor, 2010)

4. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue. The NASW 2006 Racism policy Statement called on the entire social work profession in the U.S. to take responsibility for addressing institutional racism, as it is manifested within the profession's own domain as well as in the broader society. It has been said that America’s original sin is that of slavery and its companion racism. Racism continues to be America’s grand challenge (NASW, 2007).

5. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue. Social Justice is not a “done deal for minorities who continue to experience discrimination in the areas of housing, education, employment, accumulation of wealth, disparities in mental and physical health, criminal justice, politics and media (Miller & Garran, 2007)

6. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue. • Factors such as immigration and higher birthrate that lead to growing minority populations, it is vital that social workers practice with an awareness of the impact of race and culture • Social workers should operate through the lens of cultural sensitivity

7. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue. • Social work training programs have a firm responsibility to instill a firm foundation of culturally sensitive practice at all levels • Research suggest that White social workers may feel challenged when working with clients from minority backgrounds (Loya, 2012)

8. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue. • (NASW Center for Workforce Studies in a Joint Study with The Center for Health Workforce in 2006) • 85% of Licensed social workers are White non-Hispanic • 7% of Social Workers are Black/African American • 4% Hispanic/Latino • 1%Asian/Pacific Islander • 1% Alaskan/Native American

9. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue. • 85% of the social workers reported that they worked with Black/African American Clients • 77% reported working with Hispanic Clients • 49% worked with Asian/Pacific Islander Clients • 39% worked with Alaskan/Native American Clients • 41% stated that more than half of their clients were from non-White minority groups

10. What is Race? Race as a biological fact has been invalidated by biologist and geneticists, but race as a social construct is real. The social race identity brings with this access or denial to certain privileges, power, and wealth. The status assignment based on skin color identity has evolved into complex social structures that promote a power differential between Whites and various people of color (Pinderhughes, 1989)

11. What the Research Tells Us Critical Race Theory (CRT) asserts that racism is an ordinary, everyday occurrence for people of color. It is deeply embedded in the social fabric of American society, permeating our social structures and practices. • Because racism is ordinary and embedded, its structural functions and effect on our ways of thinking are often invisible, particularly to people holding racial privilege. In turn this “invisibility” maintains racism (Abrams & Moio, 2009).

12. What the Research Tells Us • Barndt (1991) and Garcia & Van Soest (2006) stated that racism is the practice of discrimination and prejudice based on racial classification supported by the power to enforce that prejudice (NASW, 2007). Many aspect of racism have not changed and are evidence in many areas of society such as education, health and the Criminal Justice system.

13. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue Institutional racism is the manifestation of racism in social, economic, educational, and political forces or policies that operate to foster discriminatory outcomes or give preferences to members of one group over others, derives its genesis from the origins of race as a concept (NASW, 2007).

14. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue If social justice is an educational goal in social work, then discussions of racism should be prevalent in the curriculum content.

15. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue The Cultural Competence Model was adopted by the College of Social Work Education (CSWE), as a way to combat and eliminate racism in the profession (Johnson, 2012). This has been criticize as being ineffective at its intent. It is said that that it created an avenue under the multicultural umbrella to equalize oppression, and unintentionally promote the notion of a color-blind mentality (Johnson 2012). .

16. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue It is important that social workers move beyond the cultural competency term where they are at risk of engaging in cultural safaris where they view other cultures as a novelty and not equally. The Revised 2018 NASW Code of Ethics 1.05 has changed to reflect Cultural Awareness and Social Diversity

17. 1.05 Cultural Awareness and Social Diversity • (a) Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures. • (b) Social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients' cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients' cultures and to differences among people and cultural groups. • (c) Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical ability.

18. What the Research Tells Us Historically students of color has been denied access to quality education. Students were placed in remedial classes based on assessments that did not accurately measured their skills. Based on the results of these assessments beliefs and patterns evolved and became part of the narrative. This narrative continues and have led to the achievement gap (Johnson, 2012).

19. What the Research Tells Us • The Trauma of experiencing racism can be a huge influence on mental health status. Additionally, a history of oppression in the United States has led to increased rates of poverty and homelessness among African-Americans that can also increase the likelihood of mental illness

20. What the Research Tells Us • Consequences of Bias:- • Bias leads to stigma, the negative labeling of group which may generate a negative image to the public • Stereotypes are oversimplified assumption made about a group • Discrimination - A consequence of stigma and stereotyping, the unfair labeling and treatment of others

21. What the Research Tells Us • The impact of stereotypes on students:- • Even the threat of confirming a negative stereotype can result in consistent underperformance on exams • Affect student's motivation and concentration

22. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue School social workers as advocates of social justice are called to lead in the change of their school climate to ensure that all students receive equitable support. School Social Workers engaging in Courageous Conversation about race is an integral part of their practice.

23. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue • Color blind racism exist in schools and other areas of society. Color-blindness have been equated to equity, it is not. • Color-blind ideology is a form of racism that erases the lived experiences of systematic oppression of people of color (Kohli, Pizarro, & Nevarez, 2017).

24. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue • Racism is built into every level of our society • Racism persist in our schools, offices, court system, police departments and elsewhere • Racial Issues are not about skin color but are about the meaning and values assign to the skin color (Singleton, 2015).

25. Racial Power – The Role and Presence of Whiteness • The dominant racial presence in images and culture, who you see in position of power, the dominant culture, who we aspire to be in order to be considered successful • We all have been affected by the presence of whiteness throughout our own personal lived experiences (Singleton, 2015).

26. The Power of Imagery 2018 Ad by Major Retailer

27. Racial Code Words used by Politicians • Inner City - Culture in which generations of people don’t value work • States Rights – the rights of states to resist federal mandates to integrate schools and society • Forced Busing – Used by Northern states • Law and Order – draw an image of minorities as criminals • Welfare and Food Stamps – painted as a transference of wealth to minority

28. Racial Code Words used by Politicians • War on Drugs – 1 out of every 15 African-American men are in Jail, 1 out of every 13 has lost the right to vote due to felony conviction

29. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue • Social work historically has focused on primarily the influence of mainstream (i.e. White) organizations and their leaders, ignoring and often objectifying the contributions of minorities • Social workers of color, along with White advocates, challenged some of the longstanding Eurocentric biases in social work teaching and practice, including a predominantly deficit-oriented view of individuals and communities of color.

30. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue • Many social work theories, concepts, and interventions reflect primarily a Eurocentric worldview that may do harm to culturally diverse clients and their communities. • Social workers like any other professionals who make life-altering decisions on behalf of the people they serve have professional and ethical responsibilities and obligation to utilize practices proven to ensure the success of all people.

31. Institutional Racism is a significant social issue • The Trauma of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) can result from toxic stress related to environmental circumstances, including childhood exposure to racism, socioeconomic hardship and violence in one’s neighborhood (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2015)

32. CULTURE/DIVERSITY ACTIVITY Diversity means all the ways we differ. It includes the readily visible differences and the underlying differences that may be below the surface FEATURES OF CULTURE What is culture – A word that means several things – There is surface culture and Deep Culture

33. Now what to do: NASW Recommendations: ACT – In the face of racism – Apathy will be interpreted as acceptance by the public and the clients we serve Identify opportunities to engage in dialogue about institutional racism Identify and support champions of change in the organization (NASW, 2007)

34. Now What to Do? • Dig deeper, look inside yourself for biases and stereotypes, commit to disrupt intolerance • Examine your own concept of privilege, experiences with racism and underlying perceptions of yourselves to be able to move along the continuum of culturally competent practice • If you know any victims of Racism, support them – reach out

35. Now What to Do? • Social workers should engage in activities and education that encourage personal and professional growth, increasing their level of understanding of the minority experiences in today’s society • Be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and experience diversity in ways that increase your knowledge about a culture; move from cognitive to more interactional • Recognize the continuing impact that race has in the United States.

36. Now What to Do? • Become informed about the science and social policies that adversely affect the student's families and their communities • Translate the evidence into social policies that better meet the needs of vulnerable populations • Move from thinking about intervening and increasing resiliency on an individual level to building strong communities • Identify the policies that are contributing to ACE’s in your schools.

37. Now What to Do? • Break the silence about race • Engage in conversations with colleagues, enter into these conversations knowing that they will be difficult • Talk about race, inequity and injustice • Make a decision to notice times when your actions are prompted by your own biases

38. Now What to Do? • Stay Engage with the conversation • Resist the urge to change the topic to safer politically correct conversation • Speak your truth using I statement • Be respectful of other’s truths • (Singleton, 2015)

39. Now What to Do? • There are biases that can create barriers to organizational change these biases must be confronted and changes before Institutional racism is eradicated from an organization.(National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, 2018) • Implicit and Unconscious Bias are our blind spots that can result in the commitment of errors of judgement both in our work and personal lives • The color Bind – In order to get rid of racial bias, race must be talked about, we have to push against the norm in our society where its not polite to talk about race.

40. Now What to Do • Learn about your own personal reactions, assumptions, values, beliefs about yourself es and those similar and those different from you. • Consider positions of power and priilee using acceptance instead of denial and defensiveness • Understand the role of language and nonverbal cues.

41. CONCLUSION Edith Cooper, Global Head of Human Capital Goldman Sachs (2017):- “This year has reminded us that some of the oldest, most repugnant forces in this world remain alive and well: racism, misogyny, hatred. We all need to educate ourselves about these types of issues and the effect they’re having on our communities. And for those of us who wish to be seen as leaders, we must demonstrate our values through our actions.”

42. Reflection: • What thoughts and feelings are you experiencing? • What do you think your reaction means? • How do traditional forms of counseling and therapy may represent forms of oppression? • How do social justice and socio-political issues enter into this conversation on Institutional Racism?

43. References • Abrams, L. S., & Moio, J. A. (2009). Critical race theory and the cultural competence dilemma in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 45(2), 245-261. • Berzin, S. C., & O'Connor, S. (2010). Educating today's school social workers:Are school social work courses responding to the changing context?. Children & Schools, 32(4), 237-249 • Johnson, T. (2012, February 1) For school social workers: Race and the school social worker (Blog post). Retrieved from http://naswil.org/news/chapter-news/featured/for-school-social-workers-race-and-the-school-social-worker/

44. References • Loya, M. (2012). Racial Attitudes in White Social Workers: Implications for Culturally Sensitive Practice. Politics, Bureaucracy & Justice, 3(1). • National Association of Social Workers (2007) • Institutional Racism & the social work • Profession: A call to action. Retrieved from • http://www.socialworkers.org • National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (2018). Retrieved from http://www.ncwwi.org • Pinderhughes, E. (1989). Understanding race, ethnicity, and power: The key to efficacy in clinical practice. Simon and Schuster.

45. References • Singleton, G. E. (2015). Courageous conversations about race: A field guide for achieving equity in schools. Corwin Press.