Will Social Work Ever Be Truly Antiracist? Reflections on Furthering Antiracist Social Work Education

Abstract

Assertions that the social work profession is racist and has failed to fulfill its mission to advance racial justice are not new. Despite efforts to pursue racial justice as a profession, it appears very little progress has been made, resulting in renewed and more vigorous attention to examination of what it will take for social work to become truly antiracist. This paper presents the perspective of a black social work educator, who asserts that for the profession to become truly antiracist so that it dismantles racism, we must first deconstruct social work education. What we fail to achieve in practice is rooted in how we educate social workers. The paper identifies how social work education must be changed and reconceptualized in order to advance antiracist social work practice.