Deck Chairs on the Titanic

Abstract

This article critically examines the fulsome embrace of Antiracist, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) rhetoric by social work institutions in the United States, identifying historic precedents and contemporary implications. We examine theories that captivated the profession in the last half century and the corollary political developments. Many of these ideas, born of the quest for inclusion, contributed to social change and advanced the field of social work throughout the various settings in which it is practiced. Today, however, ADEI and its adjacent concepts present a hegemonic, binary, and exclusionary lens, fostering division and distraction that weaken the profession’s focus on service, divert energy from pressing global threats, and quash critical thinking with its demands for obeisance. If social work is to continue to be the robust profession we all want it to be, we must invite theoretical variety, intellectual humility, and a diversity of ideas, without fear of cancellation, and embrace all of the profession’s fundamental values.

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