Ethnicity & Race Policy and News

“Racism is real and must be eliminated. Police brutality is real and must be eliminated. Oppressive policing is real and must be eliminated. NASW stands against racism, police brutality and oppressive policing,” said Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, Chief Executive Officer of NASW.

Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW, is Executive Director at the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), and president of the Black Men at Penn School of Social Work, Inc. at the University of Pennsylvania. 

In this episode, we speak with him about America's racism pandemic, and how the social work profession can best move forward through it.

COVID-19 has quickly spread in many of the nation’s jails and prisons. Policymakers, correctional staff, and public health service providers can play an important role in responding to the prevention and urgent service needs of people impacted by incarceration who are particularly vulnerable, directly and indirectly, to the effects of coronavirus of COVID-19.

Data shows that COVID-19 is affecting Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color the most.

The Atlantic's COVID Racial Data Tracker is a collaboration between the COVID Tracking Project and the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.

NASW is committed to social justice for all and to ending racism. In this video, NASW CEO Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, speaks about how NASW national and chapter staff are mobilized and increasing our efforts in the face of America's racism pandemic.

Racism is America's defining social problem. By not acknowledging and addressing this, social workers are ignoring their ethical obligation. We cannot sit idly by as acts of racism, hatred, violence, and murder are repeatedly targeted toward black and brown people. Silence is not an option, and expressions of outrage and dismay are not enough.