“Black People Are Not My Thing”: Microaggressions Experienced by Black Graduate Students in Social Work Programs

Authors

Keywords:

Black students, graduate students, microaggressions, schools of social work

Abstract

Black students do not receive an equitable education to that of White students despite attending the same schools and receiving the same instruction (Johnson-Bailey et al., 2009). An inequitable education is primarily due to White supremacy, ongoing racism, microaggressions, and anti-Black sentiments that Black students experience in institutions of higher learning, which impacts their educational experiences, overall health, and well-being (Nakaoka & Ortiz, 2018; Smith et al., 2020). The social work profession should lead efforts to dismantle racism, given the profession’s code of ethics. However, the profession must look inward and address its racism and white supremacist attitudes and beliefs. The purpose of our paper is to explore microaggressions Black graduate students in social work programs have endured in institutions of higher learning and to issue a call to action for the social work profession to strengthen its commitment to the profession’s core values and ethical code.

Author Biographies

Joan M. Blakey, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Joan M. Blakey, PhD, LGSW is Gamble-Skogmo Endowed Chair, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, and St. Paul, MN (blak0014@umn.edu).

Quenette Walton, University of Houston

Quenette Walton, PhD, LCSW is Associate Professor, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX (qwalton2@central.uh.edu).

Sheara Jennings, University of Houston

Sheara Jennings, PhD, is Associate Professor and Humana Endowed Chair in Social Determinants of Health, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX (swillia8@central.uh.edu).

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Published

2024-02-28

How to Cite

Blakey, J. M., Walton, Q., & Jennings, S. (2024). “Black People Are Not My Thing”: Microaggressions Experienced by Black Graduate Students in Social Work Programs. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 30(1), 81–100. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1973