Ethnicity & Race Policy and News

Policing in America has a long history of preserving the violent legacy of slavery and upholding white supremacy. The tragic and unjust murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubrey, Tony McDade, Eric Garner, and so many other Black and Brown Americans by police officers has led our nation to reexamine the systems that we look to for safety and justice.

NASW’s Senior Policy Consultant Mel Wilson is interviewed by Andy McClenaghan on Let’s Talk Social Work, a podcast from the British Association of Social Workers Northern Ireland. Mel shares what’s been happening in the United States, and what we’re doing here to push for real change and social justice.

“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.