REPLY TO THE DISCUSSION BELOW
Amanda lewandowski
In response to the lack of public services for Black families The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in closed succession of the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (Stern & Axinn, 2017). Freedom had not led to equality and this was present in all aspects of society, to include social services.
After the civil war there was and industrial boom in the north fueled by migrating Black workers from the south. Settlement houses supported foreign migrants who needed services and supports while they become accustomed to the area and kept factories running. The same opportunities were not available to Black workers. Settlement Houses were segregated and the conditions for minority residents were even worse than they were for traditional Settlement House tenants. Charity Organization Societies either refused to work with Black families or would only support a very small percentage of the rising urban population (Stern & Axinn, 2017).
Racial discrimination remains prevalent in social service todays. From health care to educational benefits, racial disparities are systemic problems that have not been solved to date. Nearly 81% of African American men are not receiving recommended annual cancer screenings (Ibekwe et al, 2022) and the CDC reports that the maternal mortality Black women 2.9 times higher than that of white women (Hoyert, 2022). Social Work remains a profession that employs a white majority. The Council on Social Work education found that in 2020 22% of new Social Workers were Black. As the filed continues to diversify so will the mission and work conducted on behalf of social service recipients.
