Against the grain: examining the experiences of white healthcare providers involved in racial justice work

During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, racialized people in the United States faced devastating health outcomes. However, the disastrous fissures in the healthcare system predated the 2020 COVID-19 healthcare crisis. Prior research demonstrates that Black people outpace all other groups for inequitable health outcomes, and Black providers are under-represented in healthcare. While there has been some research around interventions, much of the research chronicles the inequities and implicates structural and interpersonal white supremacy and racism in healthcare. There is a gap in the literature around white healthcare providers involved in racial justice efforts. This qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis situates health inequities for Black people within the historical and contemporary context of white supremacy and racism. It examines the experiences of 22 white healthcare providers involved in racial justice work. Findings demonstrate three key themes: The omnipresence of racism and white supremacy in healthcare; anti-racism (racial justice worker) identity development; and reconciling racism and white supremacy in healthcare. The findings have implications for healthcare leadership, education, research, policy, and practice. The findings also have critical relevance for those invested in racial justice work in healthcare

Physical Health Problems Among People With Severe Mental Illnesses: Race, Gender, and Implications for Practice

BACKGROUND: Individuals with severe mental illnesses experience high rates of chronic health conditions; however, the extent to which risk of chronic physical health problems varies by race and gender among these individuals is understudied. AIMS: This study examines variations in health problems by race and gender among individuals with severe mental illnesses. METHOD: Administrative data, which included blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values, were obtained from 603 individuals with serious mental illnesses who received integrated health and behavioral health services from a large mental health agency in the Midwest. Bivariate and multivariate statistical models were used to examine variation in physical health problems by race and gender. RESULTS: Compared with men, women with severe mental illnesses were more likely to have BMI levels indicating obesity or morbid obesity (p < .001). Compared with White participants, Black participants were less likely to have high HbA1c levels (p < .001) but were more likely to have high blood pressure (p < .001). Among race and gender groups, Black women were more likely to have high BMI (p < .05), Black men were more likely to have high blood pressure (p < .001), and White men were more likely to have high HbA1c levels (p < .01) when holding constant all other variables. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence that types and severity of physical health problems among individuals with severe mental illnesses varies by race and gender. Replication of these results and more research is needed to ensure that health-related education and integrated health and behavioral health interventions meet the needs of individuals with serious mental illnesses

ACADEMIC VOYEURISM: THE WHITE GAZE IN SOCIAL WORK

This article explores the insidiousness of racism and White supremacy embedded within the social work academy. We conceptualize the social work academy as the institutionalized practices within social work education, research, policy, and practice. As such, the social work academy is the bedrock that continues to perpetuate racism and colonialism within the profession. Anchored by an integrative analysis of social work that draws on both postcolonial and critical race theory, we theorize that, rooted in this foundation of oppression, White supremacy in social work often manifests as academic voyeurism—the non-performative White gaze. We suggest that academic voyeurism within the social work academy renders Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Colour (BIPOC) as bodies to be studied, exoticized, and theorized about, without any substantive anti-racist change or action required. Academic voyeurism sustains social work’s dissonant position—its endorsement of social justice alongside its simultaneous ambivalence towards racism and White supremacy. The discussion draws on historical underpinnings, research, and experiential data to turn the gaze onto the academy, illuminating the implications of academic voyeurism on racialized bodies and the social work profession’s broader goals. The discussion concludes with a call to collective action for racialized social workers and those wishing to be justice-seeking accomplices.Cet article explore le caractère insidieux du racisme et de la suprématie blanche au sein du travail social. Selon notre conceptualisation, cela comprend les pratiques institutionnalisées dans l’éducation, la recherche, la politique et la pratique du travail social. L’académie du travail social est le socle qui continue à perpétuer le racisme et le colonialisme au sein de la profession. Ancrée dans une analyse intégrative du travail social qui s’inspire à la fois de la théorie postcoloniale et de la théorie critique de la race, notre théorie est que, enracinée dans ce fondement de l’oppression, la suprématie blanche en travail social se manifeste souvent par le voyeurisme académique—le regard blanc non performatif. Nous suggérons que le voyeurisme académique au sein de l’académie du travail social fait des personnes noires, autochtones et de couleur (BIPOC) des corps à étudier, à exotiser et à théoriser, sans qu’aucun changement ou action antiraciste substantiel ne soit fait. Le voyeurisme académique soutient la position dissonante du travail social—son soutien à la justice sociale et son ambivalence simultanée envers le racisme et la suprématie blanche. La discussion s’appuie sur des fondements historiques, des recherches et des données expérientielles pour tourner le regard vers l’académie, éclairant les implications du voyeurisme académique sur les corps racisés et les objectifs plus larges de la profession du travail social. La discussion se termine par un appel à l’action collective pour les travailleuses sociales et travailleurs sociaux racisés et ceux qui souhaitent être des complices de cette quête de justice

Dual Pandemics Awaken Urgent Call to Advance Anti-Racism Education in Social Work: Pedagogical Illustrations

In 2020 racial justice uprisings and COVID-19 and the push for institutional responses created pressure within social work to answer decades of calls for anti-racism action. CSWE responded and formed the Task Force for Anti-racism. As members of the Task Force, we call on CSWE to continue this anti-racism work. We describe a path forward to promote racial justice and dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy within social work education. We interrogate social work’s complicity in white supremacy, provide examples of social work anti-racism pedagogy, and call for centering BIPOC voices to move social work toward its anti-racism future