It Takes All of Us: Anti-Racism Practices in Social Work

Fall 2020Noah Gokul

IntroductionsNoah GokulProgram ManagerConfronting Structural Racism (COR) in The Jewish Board

Group AssumptionsRacism exists

Racism is Systemic

Racism and Classism are intertwined

We are constantly in the process of learning and unlearning

The Black and White binary of race

Learning Objectives

At the end of this training participants will be better able to:

● Examine their own identities within conversations of race, class, and privilege

● Recognize and use skills (self-reflection, critical analysis) to sustain and grow a racial lens

● Develop strategies to implement anti-racism practices within their work

Context of Discussion

What is your experience of doing anti-racism work in your life or profession?

Location of Self

Key Concepts

Intersectionality: Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It takes into account people’s overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face.*

* Crenshaw, K. (1989). “Demarginalizing The Intersection of Race and

Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics."

Privilege:· Unearned advantage· A set of advantages systemically conferred on a particular person or group of people. White people are racially privileged, even if they may have identities that are underprivileged. Privilege and oppression go hand in hand: they are two sides of the same power relationship, and both sides must be understood and addressed. People can be disadvantaged by one identity and privileged by another.

(Source: Race Forward.)

· Oppression: A system that maintains advantage and disadvantage based on social group memberships, and operates on individual, institutional and cultural levels. (Source: Race Forward)

· Oppression: A system that maintains advantage and disadvantage based on social group memberships, and operates on individual, institutional and cultural levels. (Source: Race Forward)

· Racism: A system of power and oppression that structures opportunities and assigns value based on race and ethnicity, unfairly disadvantaging people of color, while unfairly advantaging Whites. Racial prejudice + power = racism. (Sources: adapted from C. Jones & People’s Institute.)

Systemic Racism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBxfnXql0oo&ab_channel=KGWNews

Racism & Social Services

A History of Exploitation

● Unethical practices = negation of human rights of People of Color● Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (1932 – 1972) ● 1990s - pharmaceutical companies tested new drugs and vaccines on

Native American children.● 1998- Infusion of poor Black NYC boys with toxic drug Fenfluramine’

Guart, A. (1999, May 30). MOM: I WAS DUPED WHEN SON BECAME 'DRUG GUINEA PIG'.

Washington, H. (2010). Medical Apartheid The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. Paw Prints.

Oppression Is the Pathogen

● Racism has been associated with poor mental health outcomes connected to:○ Self-esteem○ Perceived control○ Depression○ Generalized anxiety disorder (Williams, Neighbors, & Jackson, 2003)

● Racial discrimination has been correlated with:○ increased level of stress responses such as increased anger, frustration, paranoia, and fear,

and somatic symptoms like headaches and backaches (Clark et al., 1999)

● Race Based Traumatic Stress (Carter) and Racial Microaggressions (Sue)○ Powerlessness, social degradation, deep-seated self-doubt, feelings of inferiority, and identity

confusion, and historical trauma (Bratini, Chambers, SMith 2007)

Trauma and Race

● Equity disparities from structural racism cause trauma● Mental health and physical health services and racism are intertwined● People of color are underrepresented in treatment trials● Lack of culturally affirming care leading to misdiagnosis

Schwartz, R. C., & Blankenship, D. M. (2014). Racial disparities in psychotic disorder diagnosis: A review of empirical literature. World Journal of Psychiatry, 4(4), 133–140.

Racial Equity Lens

RACIAL EQUITY LENS

The racial equity lens allows us to uncover the structures, policies, and behaviors that sustain systemic racism

· Institutional racism occurs on the level of institutions. This is when policies, practices, and systems within institutions create and sustain racialized outcomes. (Source: Race Forward.)· Internalized racism operates on a psychological level within individuals. These may be conscious or unconscious beliefs about ourselves and others based on race. (Source: Race Forward.)· Interpersonal racism occurs between people. Interpersonal racism exists when we bring our private beliefs and biases into our communications and interactions with others of a different race. (Source: Race Forward.)

❑ Narrow focus on the individual Beliefs in our System▪ Self-interest narrowly defined▪ Limited sense of interdependence▪ Limited sense of collective efficacy▪ Systems and structures as invisible or irrelevant

❑ A-historical stance▪ The present as disconnected from the past▪ Current distribution of advantage/disadvantage as happenstance▪ Systems and structures as givens and immutable

❑ Myth of meritocracy▪ “If you work hard you will make it”▪ Denial of racism Jones CP. Confronting Institutionalized Racism. Phylon 2003;50(1-2):7-22.

“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Identify mechanisms▪ Structures: the who?, what?, when?, and where?

of decision-m aking▪ Policies: the written how?▪ Practices and norms: the unwritten how?▪ Values: the why?

Jones CP. Confron ting Institu tiona lized Racism . Phylon 2003;50(1-2):7-22.

Excess deaths of Black people from COVID -19“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Mechanisms▪ Structures: Racial segregation of housing | education |

jobs; disproportionate incarceration

Excess deaths of Black people from COVID -19“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Mechanisms▪ Structures: Racial segregation of housing | education |

jobs; disproportionate incarceration▪ Policies: Limited personal protective equipment for low -

wage essential workers; limited paid sick leave

Excess deaths of Black people from COVID -19“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Mechanisms▪ Structures: Racial segregation of housing | education |

jobs; disproportionate incarceration▪ Policies: Limited personal protective equipment for low -

wage essential workers; limited paid sick leave▪ Practices: Testing centers; testing strategies

(symptomatic only)

Excess deaths of Black people from COVID -19“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Mechanisms▪ Structures: Racial segregation of housing | education |

jobs; disproportionate incarceration▪ Policies: Limited personal protective equipment for low -

wage essential workers; limited paid sick leave▪ Practices: Testing centers (affluent areas | drive -up |

requiring doctor’s orders); testing strategies (symptomatic only)

▪ Norms: Narrow focus on the individual | a -historical stance | myth of meritocracy

Excess deaths of Black people from COVID -19“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Mechanisms▪ Structures: Racial segregation of housing | education |

jobs; disproportionate incarceration▪ Policies: Limited personal protective equipment for low -

wage essential workers; limited paid sick leave▪ Practices: Testing centers; testing strategies

(symptomatic only)▪ Norms: Narrow focus on the individual | a -historical

stance | myth of meritocracy▪ Values: Valuation of White lives over Black Lives

What is health equity?

❑ “Health equity” is assurance of the conditions for optimal health for all people

❑ Achieving health equity requires▪ Valuing all individuals and populations equally▪ Recognizing and rectifying historical injustices▪ Providing resources according to need

Jones CP. Systems of Power, Axes of Inequity: Parallels, Intersections, Braiding the Strands. Medical Care 2014;52(10 Suppl 3):S71-S75.

Using a racial equity lens:In what ways do you see racism operating within your program or social services in general?

“How is racism operating here?”

❑ Identify mechanisms▪ Structures: the who?, what?, when?, and where?

of decision-m aking▪ Policies: the written how?▪ Practices and norms: the unwritten how?▪ Values: the why?

Jones CP. Confron ting Institu tiona lized Racism . Phylon 2003;50(1-2):7-22.

Useful Anti-Racism Resources:

Center for Social Inclusion

Race Forward

Racial Equity Tools

People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond

● Peer Based Supports and Strategies

● Location of self, using a racial equity lens in work

● Organizing/Involvement in groups for structural change

(IDHA, Anti-Racism Activist Groups, interagency task force)

● Training for providers (Undoing Racism- The People’s Institute for

Survival and Beyond, Racial Equity Tools )

● Transform clinical care in a way that explicitly seeks to disrupt the

structures in which it is embedded

● Disruption? Facilitating holistic, culturally rich meaning-making (not

pathologization), identifying alternative treatments

CONSIDERATIONS

ConsiderationsArticles:● Social Justice Revisited: Psychological Recolonization and the Challenge of Anti-Oppression Advocacy (2012)● Community Wise: The Development of an Anti-Oppression Model to Promote Individual & Community Health (2014)● When oppression is the pathogen: The participatory development of socially just mental health practice (2009)● White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (1988)● In Our Own Voice – African-American Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery in Mental Health Systems (2001)

● Structural Racism - Racial Equity Tools (2009)

● The Therapist as Advocate : Anti-Oppression Advocacy in Psychological Practice (2012)

42

Thanks!You can find me at➝ ngokul@jbfcs.org