Case Study: National Association Of Black Social Workers

When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.

Social workers are often on the forefront in the fight against any form of oppression as against the marginalized society. These demanding but oftentimes unappreciated efforts are often addressed through the conscious use of skills and knowledge of the problems being solved against. When such oppression is however committed against them within the organization where they work, the social worker seems to be mum about the situation, or their efforts perhaps are rendered inutile. North America social workers experience this form of oppression within the social service institution. For this reason, I examine the arguments why the social workers need to be aware of the existence of this unique form of oppression. In order to eliminate oppression in the social welfare workplace, the social workers, in their pursuit of social change, must have a competent understanding of the theory around racism and oppression.

All my life my parents have taught me the value of helping others. Having different experiences and growing up in an atmosphere where the need of others were put before our own, led me to have a desire to be a social worker. Believing that being a social worker involves many special skills, as an example one of those that u need to interact with people from different cultures and principles than me. For as long as I remember I have had the desire to become a social worker inspiring people and developing people that will drive me to dedicate my excitement and dedication to do what is important in this dream job a reality.

Others state that “race should be no barrier to finding a child a loving family and adoptive family”. One in five children waiting to be adopted are from an ethnic minority. Last year around 2,300 children were approved for adoption. Of those children 500 of them were either black or asian. Some adopted children state that growing up in a family you weren’t born into was more difficult than they thought. You never knew your ethnic background. It also always raises questions for a child about where they fit in or who they are. It becomes very pointed out if you are visually different from your

In “Races isn’t what defines me: exploring identities choices in transracial, biracial, and monoracial families”, Butler-Sweet, Colleen explains that there has been a controversial issue in the United Sates for more than half a century, among black children raised in white homes. The author’s main claim is that transracial adoption will miscarry a black identity. Comparing experiences among monoracial, biracial, and transracial families on black identity.

Instead laws are changed to make adopting mixed-race children easier. In Sandra Lapierre's situation she adopted Justin, who is different colored skin than her and the laws of Multi-Ethnic Placement Act(MEPA) was enacted in Congress in 1994. This law states that no court can delay or deny the rights of adopting mixed-race children. Some people enjoy this law because they are able to adopt children without complications, while others do not approve of this law, especially in Rhode Island. The courts in Rhode Island have been trying to fight the courts because they believe different races should be adopted by the same race parents and not have mixed-race adoption. The courts and other people believe mixed-race adoption has a bad effect on the children because they are not surrounded by the same race. Well Sandra on the other hand states, “To me, the one issue is, racism comes from people being scared of someone different, so I try to eliminate it in my home.” ;she also comes out and says, “The courts taught my children that race matters.”. With both these statements you can see that race does not matter to her and she is trying to spread the word about that, so other people will want to adopt mixed-race children. Sandra promoting mixed-race adoption and not downgrading the idea it also gives the children a better life and out of the adoption homes. Minority children tend to stay in foster care longer than white children, in America; on average out 110,000 who need permanent homes 56 percent are black and 9 percent are hispanic. Other ideas to get these minority children out of foster care is matching-race, but that is difficult and hard to come by sometimes. These matching-race also help the children better understand their identity and background of their culture or skin color per say. In the book, The Bean Trees, Taylor does not really face struggle

Researchers started doing studies to figure out what the problems seemed to be. They separated the children into different ethnic groups to see if there was a difference. The results where shocking because they didn’t know it was as serious so the matter got deeper. When the results came back it showed that children of backgrounds such as African American or Native American they had a harder time of being adopted. The focus is now on these to ethnic groups due to the high ratings of their findings.

Kenneth stated he had participated in treatments over the years. He claimed to get a better result from inpatient setting which is more structured and they are tailored to his individual treatment plan and addresses his issues, lifestyle and recovery goals.

Known around the nation as the Negro Wall Street, the community of Greenwood was the wealthiest black community at that time. African Americans moved to the Greenwood area of Tulsa to take advantage of the opportunities that were available to them.

In 2010, the University of North Carolina (the “University”) launched an investigation into the department of African and Afro-American (AFAM) studies, in which several athletes were given special treatment in “paper classes” (Hartlyn and Andrews 1). In July of 2011, a student athlete, Michael McAdoo, filed a lawsuit against the University and the NCAA due to his ineligibility to play football. In the complaint, the student attached a paper for his Swahili 403 course in which evidence of plagiarism was found (“Evidence of Academic”). In addition, some players had been receiving grades in classes that did not exist in the AFAM department (Lyall). This fraudulent activity attracted media attention to the University and Karen Gil, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, launched an investigation to analyze the previous academic years ranging from 2007 to 2011 (“Evidence of Academic”). The findings from the review committee included unauthorized grade changes, forged faculty signatures on grade rolls and limited to no class time (the “Crisis”).

As a counselor, some of the challenges I would need to consider when working with African American clients is trust. Because many have experience discrimination and are labeled by other cultures. Another challenges would be helping clients receive other resources to help them to pay for services. Many African Americans do not have health insurance and cannot afford to pay out of their pocket for

After the end of slavery, blacks were free and had the right to vote, but they were oppressed by white supremacist and state laws that restricted their voting rights. Many great minds rose from the shadows and spoke against these injustice, but the one that stands out the most is Marcus Garvey. Garvey created a huge impact in the African-American history, but his stubbornness and ignorance lead to his self-destruction. As a young boy, in Jamaica, Garvey was inspired by the works of Booker T Washington especially by the book “Up from Slavery”. From a young age, Garvey believed that is was his destiny to speak in front of millions this was one of the many reasons why he became an activist. Throughout his lifetime he made enemies with other African- American activist, like W. E. B Du Bois, who criticized Garvey and his ideology. The first American branch of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was established by Garvey in September 1917; the main causes of this association was to improve the lives of African Americans around the world and to take back Africa from the grasps of the white men and claim it for the Africans that were scattered around the world. Marcus was put on trial on May 18 1923 this marked the beginning of the downfall of Garvey’s empire. In general, Marcus Garvey was an activist who wanted the best for his people but his downfall was cause by his own stubbornness and because he surrounded himself by incompetent people and his enemies.

The Covert’s were not sure how their children would handle being raised in a white home when they grew older. After much research Brenda found mixed-race adoptions and same- race adoptions have the same success rate. She also found most children adjust well, and are happy in their family. Covert also read “Should You Adopt?” by Christine Field who believes children belong in homes with loving and accepting parents no matter their race or background. She also read many other books on transracial adoption, and received encouragement from their church family.

Black Americans groups are extremely diverse in a number of ways. Black Americans groups include people areas and this diversity affects their behavior in different racial backgrounds (American Indian, Black, and White) and includes people of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Spanish, and Central or South American origin. Each of these different cultural groups share a common language and some cores values that result in their being classified together, yet another group also carries its own unique culture, traditions and perspective. People from these different groups also have different immigration histories that further contribute to the diversity within the African group.

To the thousands of children in foster care, adoption means being part of a family. Adoption signifies a chance to be loved, wanted, and cared for properly. Every year thousands of children enter the foster care system. In the year 2010 alone, 245,375 children entered foster care, of that number over 61,000 were black. An astounding 30,812 black children were waiting for adoption in 2010 (AFCARS). With so many children needing homes, it would seem their adoption would be open to any and all loving families, yet this is not the necessarily the case. Transracial adoption, which traditionally alludes to black children placed with white families, is riddled with difficulties. While transracial adoption can be a successful solution, many