Replacing the cops with social workers without intense work is dangerous
I feel the need to address the posts I've seen recently calling for the replacement of cops with social workers. We need to abolish the police BUT that doesn't mean social workers and therapists are exempt from racism and upholding white supremacy.
I’ve experienced substantial micro aggression and straight up racism as a white presenting woman. It has been much, much worse for my Black and Latinx Colleagues.
My last non profit was racist and ableist. I felt the HR manager in tears at my exit interview. There is still rage because there are rarely consequences for white people in positions of power and there is very real Blacklash to the Black people who attempt to point it out. These aren’t even people with the power to remove kids or housing but the power trips were so impressive. I remember being told we need to take Black and Latinx kids to pick fruit in the hot sun in the summer with no space for why that might be a problem. Couldn’t understand why migrant worker parents would be angry or upset. Or Black parents. I saw Black women pass over for promotions or told they were unprofessional. I’ve seen white eyes rolled and concerns dismissed. Beyond personal experience - Black, indigenous and Latinx families were frequently labeled as resistant and unable to change. There was always appropriate lip service to “engagement” and “connecting” and cultural “competency” (not humility). There are people who work in these systems (mental health, healthcare, education) who are content to be passive and maintain the status quo.
Many (most?) these non profits are actively harmful for communities. Giving a child with chronic and extensive trauma and attachment disruptions a new therapist every school year is cruelty. Having so many white savior therapists flood communities of color with the “desire to fix” is harmful. Not being actively and aggressively anti racist is injurious. “Saving people” is deadly. People usually don’t need to be saved - they need the right supports.
There is not an institution that exists in the United States was not build upon racist foundations. There is no institution that exists without or apart from racism. These structures have to be rethought, redrawn, reshaped, rebuilt. White people in social and health services can be so destructive. There have been moments when I’ve known I had the power to ruin someone’s life. I made a choice in, what I hope, in the best interest of the client but I KNEW it was a life changing moment where I had to color outside the narrow Eurocentric white therapy lines. There have been times when I put myself at personal or professional risk because it was the right thing to do. I was told I was doing “too much” like it was “private practice.” With the implication being that poor kids and families shouldn't have access to that level of support. I have knowledge of Black families and lives because of my own family that other white therapists don’t have because there is not the pressing need to learn these things - esp in MFT programs.
There are amazing BIPOC social workers out there doing amazing work. Some white accomplices out there too. We need to look to mutual aid in the community. We need to decolonize our therapy practices. We need to listen to Black therapists. We need to listen to Latinx therapists. We need to listen to disabled therapist. We need to listen to queer therapists. We need to hear clients. We need to hear community organizers. There are mutual aid groups, likely in your community. There is a movement to decolonize therapy. I can see how it could be different but there is A LOT of work to do to combat racism that doesn't stop with abolishing the police.
