Black social workers: Identity, racism, invisibility/hypervisibility at work

Chijioke Obasi

doi:10.1177/14680173211008110

Abstract

Summary This article provides a reflexive account of qualitative research with Black female social workers in the North of England. It uses ‘Africanist Sista-hood in Britain’ as the theoretical framework guiding the research. The data are gathered from six semi-structured interviews and two focus groups. Data were analysed via thematic analysis. Participant data are used to discuss issues of identity, race and racism as they contribute to positions of visibility, invisibility and hypervisibility within the social work spaces discussed. The article challenges Western forms of knowledge production as the dominant discourse in social work research, practice, education and training and links this to wider issues of power, privilege and suppression of marginalised voices. Findings The findings section reveals examples of racism, marginality, invisibility and hypervisibility as part of the lived experiences of Black female social workers in the study. It includes discussions of ‘collective strategic projection’ as a consequence of the development of the ‘race taboo’ often present in these work environments. Applications The article calls for social work educators, practitioners and the wider academic field to do more to centralise anti-racist approaches in an attempt to challenge racism in social work.

Highlights

Charlotte Williams in her discussions of the current state of race and ethnicity in social work research, starts her article with the following statement: The need for sustained scholarly analysis and knowledge building on issues of race/ ethnicity (R/E) in social work research is as compelling as ever given the intensification of global racial inequalities, issues associated with the ‘migrant crisis’, the spread of populist racialised political discourse and the ongoing downward pressure of neoliberal imperatives. (Williams, 2020, p. 1058)
Applying the framework of Africanist Sista-hood in Britain allowed for the recognition of the importance of self-naming, history and Africanist perspectives on knowledge production
For social workers in this study, their identity was othered by the dominant structures of Whiteness in the workplace

Summary

Introduction

Charlotte Williams in her discussions of the current state of race and ethnicity in social work research, starts her article with the following statement: The need for sustained scholarly analysis and knowledge building on issues of race/ ethnicity (R/E) in social work research is as compelling as ever given the intensification of global racial inequalities, issues associated with the ‘migrant crisis’, the spread of populist racialised political discourse and the ongoing downward pressure of neoliberal imperatives. (Williams, 2020, p. 1058)Williams goes on to highlight the invisibilisation of race and ethnicity in public policy and calls for a redux in social work research. It is an attempt to stimulate debate and encourage all those involved in every area of the social work profession to take stock and consider the current state of race and racism in social work. This article makes use of participant data to discuss issues of identity, race and racism as experienced by Black female social workers in the North of England. It does so by using the narratives of research participants to reflect on experiences in social work as they discuss identity interchanges with service users, carers, colleagues as well as at organisational level, while carrying out their professional roles. The privilege of Whiteness and maleness has an enduring influence on the systems that maintain their power and simultaneously work to subjugate and invalidate the knowledge production processes of Black women

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Conclusion