Historical Knowledge of Oppression and Racial Attitudes of Social Work Students

Abstract

Racism has a long history in the United States. For generations, people of color have been systematically oppressed, whereas White people have benefitted from unearned privilege. Despite major advances in civil rights, the ongoing presence and legacy of racism and White privilege result in pervasive inequities. Social work education prepares graduates to advocate for racial justice. The present study describes the historical knowledge of oppression that students (N=305) possess at the beginning of their MSW education and examines the relationship between this knowledge and the endorsement of a color-blind ideology. Students with more historical knowledge reported fewer color-blind beliefs; millennial generation students reported fewer color-blind beliefs than older students. Implications are discussed for race-conscious and competency-based social work education.

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