Abstract
In this article, we seek to highlight the ways in which we, as two female social work faculty members whose racial/ethnic identities fall into the categories of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), have experienced racism and White supremacy within predominantly White institutions in the United States. We seek to clarify that these experiences are not unique to any particular institution or university, but rather reflect systemic racism and the upholding of White supremacy in higher education in social work throughout the United States. We highlight the differential vulnerability faced by BIPOC women in academia, which are often unaddressed in the pursuit of what is seen to be an egalitarian or colorblind merit review. Bearing in mind our reflexivity on our positionalities, we share personal narratives regarding our own marginalization within White spaces and the emotional labor that we are often asked to carry for the institutions within which we work. We will elucidate experiences of tokenization or assumed intellectual inferiority by our peers. Given the current sociopolitical moment and the heightened awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within universities, we also reflect on how institutions of higher education, and particularly schools of social work, can move beyond simply hiring more people of color or conducting diversity trainings to ensuring that BIPOC women are more fully included in their roles within universities as faculty, administrators, staff and students.
Highlights
In this article, we seek to highlight the ways in which we, as two female social work faculty members whose racial/ethnic identities fall into the categories of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), have experienced racism and White supremacy within predominantly White institutions in the United States
University administrators may claim that the lack of diversity within faculty is caused by a dearth of qualified minority candidates
The second author identifies as a southern African American/Black Christian woman, wife, and mother who has practiced in the following areas: medical social work in rural and urban communities, counseling in a psychiatric hospital within the department of corrections, investigations with child protective services, evaluation of mental health system of care services, clinical counseling with sexual trauma services, as well as teaching in a few universities in both the northeast and southeast of the U.S
Summary
It may be helpful to first define how we are using the acronym BIPOC. We have explicitly chosen to use this acronym in this paper as it both refers to a wide swath of people of color, yet keeps the experiences of Black and Indigenous people at the forefront of our consciousness. The second author identifies as a southern African American/Black Christian woman, wife, and mother who has practiced in the following areas: medical social work in rural and urban communities, counseling in a psychiatric hospital within the department of corrections, investigations with child protective services, evaluation of mental health system of care services, clinical counseling with sexual trauma services, as well as teaching in a few universities in both the northeast and southeast of the U.S. While the two of us differ in our racial/ethnic identities, household compositions, religions, and institutional affiliations, our experiences as BIPOC women social work faculty remain unquestionably similar. While the two of us differ in our racial/ethnic identities, household compositions, religions, and institutional affiliations, our experiences as BIPOC women social work faculty remain unquestionably similar We dissect these similarities and differences in our experiences as women of color in this paper. Instead we argue that operating from a bicultural perspective may equip women of color with skills that aid them in critically examining their institutions and moving beyond White-dominant notions of educational leadership to more culturally responsive approaches (Martinez & Welton, 2015)
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