The limited white perspective, and its correlating records affect the practices of emerging social workers, especially those from BIPOC communities promoting and sustaining white supremacy. The limited white point of view recorded throughout history and use for current social work education may discourage BIPOC involvement in social work and impact BIPOC students’, self efficacy and future efforts in contributing to the profession. Overtime social work students have been told a white washed narrative about the professions establishment and have been instilled through this narrative with the stereotype that BIPOC are inferior receivers, while white social workers are innovators and distributors of helpful services.
Social work educators can make sure BIPOC social work and social worker history is integrated and acknowledged in social work curriculum by acknowledging historical trauma when helping BIPOC clients. This might make a long-term effect on the profession by helping people on a deeper level.
Because BIPOC social work had more of an oral history, if any recorded history, because of the forced effort on survival rather than written records, it is important to reconstruct social work definitions to include and honor diverse cultural practices from cultures other than Western. The National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) helps do this by highlighting the marginalization of the influences of people of color in social work. Social workers can also help by recognizing historical BIPOC practices as such instead of renaming them as western innovative ideas. BIPOC must be empowered to not negate the strengths based work that was foundational to the social work profession.
Modern social work education can help by amplifying the lesser known BIPOC historical social work figures and their contributions by finding historical labels that are synonyms for being a social worker in order to uncover BIPOC social workers in the profession’s history. The field of social work can also analyze and own up to its own biases to help ensure that all of the professions’ pioneers and innovators are credited with their contributions. One way that they can help do this is by recognizing white lead social work movements, rather than just white social work figures, as well as recognizing the BIPOC social work figures and movements more predominantly.
I think the recommendations for integrating BIPOC social work history into social work educational curricula are good and should be done in order to include the history of BIPOC social work pioneers. BIPOC contributions and efforts in social work should also continue to be recorded from here on out in order to make the white and BIPOC contributions to social work a bit more balanced, while recognizing that parts of BIPOC social work history will likely never be acknowledged due to racism.
Two good examples of modern day BIPOC figures in social work culture are Dr. Crystal Coles, and Hillary Weaver. Dr. Cole uses prosopography to investigate marginalized peoples influences in social work and Hilary Weaver works on uncovering retellings of stories of indigenous advocacy and contributions to social work history.
Two good examples of BIPOC figures from social work history, W.E.B. DuBois, and Lucy Goode Brooks. DuBois, focused on macro social work and civil rights, writing multiple pieces advocating for the advancements of people of color and structural change in institutions. Brooks helped found the Friends Asylum for Colored Children.
Wright, Kelechi C., et al. “Whitewashing of social work history.” Advances in Social Work, vol. 21, no. 2/3, 2021, pp. 274–297, https://doi.org/10.18060/23946.
Kenese Faamu
BIPOC contributions were never given enough credit and believe that’s really unfair. BIPOC social workers throughout history should have been recognize no matter what their race is. Your blog was enjoyable to read and mentioning those BIPOC social workers from the past and present was a great idea.
Devin Gittlein
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed reading my blog this week. I agree that BIPOC social workers should be recognized and should continue to be recognized along with BIPOC pioneers and contributors in all fields.
Mindy Haley
I began reading the paper that was assigned for this blog, and I had the completely wrong idea of what I was getting into. It has already been said that being a person of privilege makes it hard to recognize that privilege and that statement is proving to be true over and over again. Thank you for the concise summary of what the writers were explaining, how BIPOC have been excluded from written history and formal recognition in the acknowledged history of social work. Their work has been undermined, marginalized, ignored, or misclassified as the successful work of a white person.
I was particularly blindsided by the notion that, essentially, white people are using white methods to cure non-white communities of problems that were created by white people in the first place. As a person who values honesty and ownership of one’s mistakes, I find it hard to reconcile the fact that this was not discussed during my education until now and this is an opinion that I, as a white person, do not often hear in public conversation. I am hopeful that we (white people) can cast away our defensive posturing and rationalization of these behaviors and leave them in the past, acknowledging the injustices and doing better as we move through the future.
Devin Gittlein
Hi Mindy! I was recently having a conversation about how the ideas for many inventions were stolen from other inventors who were BIPOC or stuck in poverty, and then patented by high class, white inventors or scientists in the same field. This is another example of the misclassification of BIPOC contributors in history. In our reading Chapter 3: Cultural Competence, it outlines the differences in cultures, and I think that most white social workers, having experienced white privilege throughout their lives, can’t understand these differences fully.
Abbigale Wheeler
Hey Devin! I agree with you that minority groups seem to be kind of left out of a lot of different parts of the social work community, I would personally love to learn more about persons of color and the contributions that they have made to the field of social work as well as just about every other field out there that minorities have been whitewashed out of. The social work community needs to make sure that there are constantly open opportunities for persons of color and to continually educate the public on the full history of social work, not just the whitewashed version of it.
Devin Gittlein
Hi Abbigale, I agree that social work needs more opportunities for BIPOC in the profession and to expand the social work curricula. I think that having a more diverse industry of professionals would allow social workers to better help marginalized communities.
David Shelton
Devin, thank you for shedding light on the whitewashing in social work history. The exclusion of BIPOC narratives, experiences, and contributions from the mainstream discourse undermines the field’s richness and diversity and perpetuates racial inequities. Acknowledging and addressing this gap is critical. By expanding curricula to include diverse perspectives and experiences, we can foster a more inclusive and holistic approach to social work. The examples of Dr. Crystal Coles, Hillary Weaver, W.E.B. DuBois, and Lucy Goode Brooks exemplify the significant contributions that BIPOC professionals have made and continue to make to the field. Their stories and work are instrumental in dismantling stereotypes and fostering an environment where all voices are heard, valued, and respected. Incorporating these diverse narratives into the education and training of emerging social workers is a step toward rectifying historical omissions and ensuring a more equitable future for the profession.
Devin Gittlein
I think you beautifully summarized the exclusion of BIPOC contributions to social work. It is important to hear everyone’s Own personal experiences with social work, and it helps everyone in the profession to gain a better understanding of individual cultures.
Michelle Trahan
Devin, I like the idea of highlighting lesser-known BIPOC historical figures in social work and giving them a place in modern education. Representation goes a long way. People feel empowered when they witness people who look like them or come from the same communities they do being acknowledged for their work. It shifts a mindset from ‘I wish I could be’ to ‘I want to be’ to ‘I am.’ Furthermore, pioneers need to be acknowledged for their contributions regardless of color.
Hailey Luder
Devin, thank you for your contribution. I like your idea of giving lesser-known BIPOC figures in social work history a place in modern day curriculum. I also like that you gave faces to names, and showed pictures at the end. I do slightly wish you would have put the faces directly by their names, and broken up the text a bit, but the blog’s still great without that. I know a lot of what your blog post talks about isn’t really spoken too much about in a lot of people’s educations. In fact, I know I didn’t learn a lot of things about history or the world in general until I pretty much went out of my way to go find more information than I was being given, and I think that’s really sad. I think your blog was pretty good, if a bit short, and I would’ve appreciated more multi-media elements, but that might be just me. Great job either way.