Description
What can discourse about White privilege reveal about social work education and how can that discourse catalyze action and transformation? These are the questions that Nocona Pewewardy tackles in her insightful and provocative book, Challenging White Privilege. Contemporary discourse about White privilege emphasizes the constructed social meanings that society has attached to the concept of race. In order to eradicate racial oppression in the U.S., people with privilege must come to the realization that the racial hierarchy in the U.S. is built on and maintained by falsely constructed notions of White supremacy. Pewewardy believes that social work’s present response to racism is inadequate because it lacks sufficient effort directed at deconstructing White privilege. Challenging White Privilege provides information and strategies that can be used to envision and apply liberatory alternatives in social work education.
Endorsements
“Pewewardy makes a compelling case for a much needed paradigm shift in social work education, challenging us to examine the other side of racism—White privilege. Through the voices of educators who have taken up this challenge, this book reveals the operations of privilege in our curriculum, our classrooms, and ourselves and presents strategies for undoing its effects.” —Salome Raheim, associate professor, School of Social Work, The University of Iowa