GSSW Antiracism Statement
The Garland School of Social Work seeks to produce ethical social work practitioners committed to anti-oppressive practices and the empowerment of all people. Anti-oppressive social work is a frame we are striving to use in the Garland School to promote our work for equality, honoring the dignity and worth of all people, with a focus on underrepresented and marginalized groups. Our approach to work for justice is informed by our Christian faith as well as our professional values and ethics. Christianity, as with the major world religions, seeks to challenge power inequities, center the lives of people who have been marginalized, and work for liberation for people who are oppressed. Our efforts to use the anti-oppressive framework are situated first in anti-racism, but take seriously an intersectional approach to justice work related to experiences of ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, mental or physical ability, religion/spirituality, age and other marginalized identities in accordance with our professional Code of Ethics. The race focus of our work includes being actively opposed to racism in all its forms —individual, interpersonal, institutional, and structural...
A message from Dean Singletary
The Garland School is committed to the ongoing work of antiracism as we make our way into the fall semester. Explicit action for racial justice must be strengthened in so many systems around us, but also here in the life of the school. A series of listening sessions this summer pointed out our shortcomings and the need for a stronger and more explicit race equity focus in the school. As a result, we are developing a race equity team of faculty, staff, students, and alumni looking at diversity, inclusion, and equity opportunities related to the curriculum, faculty makeup and leadership, and student support. We are already taking initial steps to incorporate more Black, Indigenous, and authors of Color in our courses and we know there will be even more work to do in this area. My hope in all of this work is that it will reflect inner transformation while creating outward change that matters in the lives of our community. While we know this work requires concrete action, the work for racial justice is also inner work. The spiritual component must be engaged as fully as the corporate elements. This is not easy to do as most of us lean more in either the direction of action or contemplation, while finding it a challenge to have a holistic, balanced approach. I hope we will keep this at the forefront of our hearts and minds as we take next steps together.
GSSW Resources
Dr. Stephanie Boddie — Unfinished Business project
Kerri Fisher — On Ramp podcast
Kerri Fisher — 5 tips to cultivate cultural humility and antiracism
Kerri Fisher — ‘Cultural humility’ fosters a lifelong self-examination of racism
Dr. Brianna Lemmons — Black Females Fatherhood Scholarly Network
Dr. Stephanie Boddie — Urban Ministry Reconsidered
GSSW program director reflects on antiracism listening sessions, calls us to action
21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge ©
97 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Healing in Action 2020 | The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Teaching Tolerance | How Can We Build Anti-Racist White Educators?
BARWE: Building Anti-Racist White Educators
Be the Bridge: Authentic Racial Bridge-Builders
Baylor University Announces Charges, Members of Commission on Historic Campus Representations
How Did We Get Here? The Atlantic
Jemar Tisby's The Color of Compromise
Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation
Dr. Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility
‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass' Speech | NPR