Creating Space for the ‘Uncomfortable’: Discussions about Race and Police Brutality in a BSW Classroom

Authors

  • Felicia M. Mitchell University of Kansas

Keywords:

race, police brutality, social work education, BSW, cultural competence

Abstract

During the summer of 2014 I was developing my syllabus for a cultural competency course I would teach in the fall to a group of BSW students. On August 9th of that summer Michael Brown, a young black man, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson Missouri. As the fall semester approached and I was putting the finishing touches on my syllabus, I knew that I would speak with my students of the events unfolding in Ferguson. But I was anxious of what such conversations would look like. This narrative offers an overview of the critical dialogue that I engaged in with students about race and police brutality that semester. It also documents my journey in learning to create space for ‘uncomfortable’ classroom discussions that foster critical reflection about race in America and preparing social work students to practice in a multiracial society.

Author Biography

Felicia M. Mitchell, University of Kansas

Felicia is currently a doctoral candidate at the School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas. Felicia’s research and scholarship interests include health inequities among historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, particularly among American Indians; social determinants of health; and cultural and racial diversity in social work education.

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Published

2016-06-10

How to Cite

Mitchell, F. M. (2016). Creating Space for the ‘Uncomfortable’: Discussions about Race and Police Brutality in a BSW Classroom. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 21(3), 4–9. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1342