Racial Justice

NASW Racial Justice, Anti-Racism Statements, & Resources are HERE

Read the NASW-CO Land & Labor Acknowledgements HERE

Please join the Colorado Chapter's Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI) Committee in anti-racism work. Email NASW-CO JEDI Committee Co-Chair Dr. Amanda Baranski to get connected (and read our Chapter's NASW-CO Diversity Plan HERE). 

August 26, 2020  NASW Demands End to Excessive Use of Force by Law Enforcement.

July 14, 2020 "Continue to push, to agitate and to demand the rights for all people" Take time to listen to this message from #nasw President Mit Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW. https://bit.ly/3exTpXK

July 14, 2020 NASW applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 (H.R. 7120) on June 25. This legislation, which was introduced by social worker Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is a crucial step forward in police reform and dismantling the structural inequality left from legacies of discrimination and white supremacy — the root cause of aggressive, brutal, and unaccountable policing. https://buff.ly/39dPI8y

June 25, 2020 Our Code of Ethics requires us to challenge social injustice- there is no room for "neutrality": Social Workers have a professional and moral obligation to address and end racism.  Read joint NASW/CSWE/ASWB statement

June 24, 2020 An Important Message About Racism from NASW’s Vice President Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion Dawn M. Hobdy, LICSW: https://buff.ly/30iBMYe

June 18, 2020 President Trump’s executive order to reform policing is inadequate and fails to address systemic racism in our nation. Read the full statement

May 28, 2020 NASW strongly condemns the continued death of unarmed people who are African American at the hands of police. We renew our call for the nation to adopt policing reforms to address this crisis. And we offer our condolences to the families of the people who have died. Read the full statement.

 Jun 10, 2020 NASW National Committee on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity (NCORED) We condemn racism. We condemn white supremacy. We condemn the devaluation of Black lives and Black humanity that pervades our society. The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others are rooted in these social ills and reflect profound failings on the part of institutions that are supposed to protect and keep us all safe. These tragedies are linked to a legacy of racialized violence in the United States that continues to plague Black people and Black communities. Full statement: https://buff.ly/3hi6Spt .   As social workers, our professional ethical mandate includes being actively opposed to racism in all its forms—individual, interpersonal, institutional, and structural. Using the Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice developed by NCORED as a framework, we propose the following resources for promoting anti-racism*: (*additional resources listed further down this webpage).

Being Anti-Racist (National Museum of African American History and Culture)
Reading List (Center for Racial Justice in Education)
An Anti-Racist Reading List (Ibram X. Kendi, PhD)
Personal Self-Assessment of Anti-Bias Behavior (Anti-Defamation League)

Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call to Action (NASW)

June 2021: NASW Publishes "Undoing Racism Through Social Work: NASW Report to the Profession on Racial Justice Priorities and Action"

January 2022: NASW Board of Directors issues an update to its Anti-Racism Statement

October 2022: NASW Publishes "Undoing Racism Through Social Work Vol. 2: A Collaborative Vision for an Anti-Racist Future"


The NASW National Committee on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity launched in 1975 to help focus association on ending racism & offer anti-racism resources for social workers. 


Additional Resources & Information

At NASW we unequivocally believe that our Anti-Racism Code of Ethics, Core Values and Social Justice Work align with the sentiment and meaning of Black Lives Matter- https://blacklivesmatter.com/

NASW Related Briefs & Reportshttps://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Ethnicity-Race/Racial-Justice/Briefs-and-Reports

Selected NASW Policies and Position Papers on Racism and Justice

NASW Code of Ethics. The issues of social justice, oppression, and discrimination are addressed in the Code’s Preamble, Ethical Values, and Principles and in Standards 1.05 Cultural Awareness and Social Diversity; 2.01 Respect; 3.07 Administration; 4.02 Non Discrimination; 6.01, 6.04 Social Welfare, and Social/Political Action.

Institutional Racism & Social Work, A Call To Action. This is NASW’s seminal paper describing institutional racism and calls the profession to action.

Social Work Speaks Publication: “Racism” Statement

NASW Social Justice Briefs

2005 Social Work Congress. The SW Congress addressed the effect of racism, other forms of oppression, social injustice, and other human rights violations through social work education and practice.

NASW Virtual Conference Keynote Presentation on June 15: Addressing Systemic Racism: Live Event with Wes Moore, the CEO of Robin Hood, one of the largest anti-poverty forces in the nation. Register for 1, 2 or 3 days: https://buff.ly/2XT2K6l

NASW  hosts a noon (Mountain Time) Juneteenth (June 19th) Facebook Live Virtual Event on Anti-Racism. The event will also be recorded. Details: https://www.facebook.com/naswsocialworkers/

Dawn Hobdy, MSW, LICSW, is NASW's Vice President of Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion focused on making NASW and workplaces around the nation more diverse and embracing of all people. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2UQtVhB

Follow/participate in Anti-Racism dialogue within https://mynasw.socialworkers.org/home 

Black Lives Matter: Social Work and the Future of Policing  June 30, 12-1:30  MST Description of Briefing and more information https://csd.wustl.edu/congressional-briefing-black-lives-matter-social-work-and-the-future-of-policing/

NASW Congressional advocacy and legislative efforts in which you can learn about and become involved, such as NASW-CO efforts with HR 7120, can be found https://www.socialworkers.org/Advocacy/Social-Justice

and in Colorado https://naswco.socialworkers.org/Advocacy/Legislative-Advocacy , including our support of CO SB20-217 Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb20-217 sponsored by Senators Garcia and Fields and Reps. Herod and Gonzales-Gutierrez. 

NASW is always involved in voting efforts, locally and nationally, through www.votingissocialwork.org. Our Chapter PACE Committee that endorses candidates for office is a great place to make macro change. https://naswco.socialworkers.org/Advocacy/Political-Action-for-Candidate-Election-PACE

NASW’s Social Work Speaks and Social Justice Briefs cover related policy platforms. For instance, our stance against racial profiling is found here: https://buff.ly/2BZ1tn7

Race, Responsibility, and Reconciliation Series - Sponsored by NASW-NJ

NASW-NJ President Elect Professor Widian Nicola, D.S.W., LCSW 's "Lived Experienced Project: Being Black in America," broadcast weekly - accessed via Zoom and Facebook.

NASW Texas Racism Discussion Forum - and a related summer series

Selected NASW Recorded Webinars (and more here in our CE Online Institute):

NASW across the country is involved in a weekly meeting to elevate the critical importance of this conversation within the Association, both looking inward and working externally. As part of looking inward, we will be updating this guiding document for our entire Association: Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call to Action: https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=SWK1aR53FAk%3D&portalid=0

Email us to be connected with our Chapter Leadership on Anti-Racism and/or to add to these resources. 

Additional Resources 

Self Care

Liberate app meditation app for the Black, Indigenous and People of Color community. Listen to dozens of guided meditations to ease anxiety, find gratitude, heal internalized racism and microaggressions, and celebrate Blackness. 

The Safe Place: a Minority Mental Health App geared towards the Black Community to bring awareness, education and hope. 

The Melanated Social Work Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-melanated-social-work-podcast/id1459689875 

The Breakdown with Dr. Earl: A Mental Health Podcast

The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema  

Safe Black Space: https://www.safeblackspace.org/resources

The Nap Ministry-Resources for the Rest Resistance-https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/

Natl. Museum of African American History & Culture- https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/self-care

Additional Anti-Racism Resources, outside NASW:

Justice Consulting (www.justiceconsultinght.org), with the support of Phoenix Rising and in collaboration with Jamie Rosseland, is offering an eight-week course on dismantling privilege. This is being offered free of charge.

https://www.driep.org/anti-racism-training - free through June 2020

75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice by Corinne Shutack: https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLE77qhZ8LgJUw_Ttr6xvVw - April Harter, LCSW (Colorado-based)

Talking About Race - National Museum of African American History & Culture

Brené Brown with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist

Listing of Anti-Racism Resources, NASW-TX bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES  

Resources for therapists: https://www.socialwork.career/2020/06/anti-racism-resources-for-social-workers-and-therapists.html

Books about activism for kids&youth: https://www.readbrightly.com/books-about-activism-for-kids/

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh: https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf

White Supremacy Culture by Tema Okun: http://www.dismantlingracism.org/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_culture.pdf

When the ‘White Tears’ Keep Coming by Leah Donnella: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/11/28/649537891/when-the-white-tears-just-keep-coming

The Empathy Crisis of White America by Phillip Picardihttps://buff.ly/37oxRuL

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race by Jay Smooth (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbdxeFcQtaU

Allegories on Race and Racism by Camara Phyllis Jones (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNhcY6fTyBM

A History of Racial Injustice (calendar): https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice

Videos

Create an action plan for racial equityhttps://www.racialequitytools.org/plan/action-plan

Hire and retain a diverse workforce
You can engage with NASWCO in its commitment to initiatives to make social work an affordable, viable option for all by engaging with efforts such as https://cwdc.colorado.gov/strategies/career-pathways and through NASW scholarships https://www.socialworkers.org/Donate

6 Steps for Building an Inclusive Workplace: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0418/pages/6-steps-for-building-an-inclusive-workplace.aspx

Beyond Diversity: A Road Map to Building an Inclusion Organization: https://www.diversegreen.org/beyond-diversity/

Blind Hiring: A How-to Guide to Reduce Bias and Increase Diversity: https://ideal.com/blind-hiring/

Volunteer opportunities that might be of interest - Help Colorado Now - https://cohealthvol.nationbuilder.com/ includes volunteer opportunities for social workers, as does Spark the Change-  https://www.sparkthechangecolorado.org/

Additional Resources Related to Fighting Racism

NASW's Response to America's Racial Crisis