Think creatively and act decisively: creating a antiracist alliance of social workers.

Abstract

Each month throughout the New York City (NYC) area, more than 20 separate gatherings bring social workers and other professionals together to discuss one thing: undoing structural racism in their organization, community, university, and profession. Over 8,000 strong in 2014, the Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA) began in 2002 in the living room of one very motivated social worker and a small group of dedicated colleagues. They had all attended an Undoing Racism Workshop (URW) provided by the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond (a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in New Orleans. They have been providing Undoing Racism workshops and antiracism consultation throughout the nation for over 30 years) and left with a commitment to transform their profession. This practice update describes the movement that rose from this critical alliance of social workers, noting its impact and key points to inform similar organizing efforts. Racism is manifest in the outcomes of social systems that persistently show disproportionally negative outcomes for people of color, regardless of social class or other factors. Individual bias, embedded in history and cultural norms, and rooted in institutional structure, are the three interlocking components of racial inequity that need to be understood and addressed. Social work recognizes the need, and the NASW Call to Action explicitly addresses institutional racism (NASW, 2007). Of the many challenges involved in heeding this call, however, one central concern is finding a group of people who agree on a definition of racism that attends to all dimensions and who then commit to work together toward a common goal.