by Satara Charlson, PhD, MSW
Pricey colleagues,
The Nationwide Day of Racial Therapeutic is January 17, 2023. I don’t know if lots of my friends learn about at the present time and what it represents, so I wished to take a minute and share about it, and to share a number of ideas associated to it.
The Kellogg Basis launched the National Day of Racial Healing marketing campaign in 2017 as a part of its Fact and Racial Therapeutic Transformation (TRHT) efforts. The overarching function of the day is for people, teams, and communities to come back collectively and acknowledge how systemic racism is woven into the material of our nation, and to work to dismantle it. It’s a tall order, to deal with systemic racism and foster therapeutic, but it surely’s one which we as social staff are intimately acquainted with.
Actually, the extra I realized concerning the TRHT framework (from which the Nationwide Day of Racial Therapeutic was born), the extra I used to be reminded of studying concerning the technique of fact and reconciliation as an MSW scholar on the College of Kansas within the Nineties and the way in awe I used to be to study this therapeutic course of and the way it was utilized by completely different nations, communities, and organizations. The troublesome, but stunning, technique of fact and reconciliation match so completely into my macro social work courses. I vividly keep in mind being not solely in awe of this new data, however wanting to instantly go put this course of into observe in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Fact, Reconciliation, and Therapeutic
In case you aren’t acquainted with the method, I’ll share my lay individual synopsis. For me, the method of fact and reconciliation is geared toward therapeutic divided communities by way of working to rework ache and oppression into collaboration and therapeutic. How do you progress ahead after horrible issues have occurred (like colonization, genocide, slavery, massacres) and the established order is unjust?
The method of fact and reconciliation helps divided teams and communities transfer ahead in a significant manner. It focuses on therapeutic, versus punishment, and is the one course of I do know of that may actually construct sustainable bridges for each the privileged and the oppressed, in a spot the place an extended legacy of colonization, violence, genocide, and oppression are ubiquitous to a rustic or group’s previous or current.
Though there are numerous approaches to the method, the method usually includes:
- fact sharing
- acknowledging fact (and the legacies of injustice)
- collaboration
- restoration
By fact sharing and acknowledging not solely fact, however the legacies of injustice stemming from what occurred, the method builds a place to begin for therapeutic. I keep in mind a professor as soon as saying, “You need to see and really feel a wound to heal it.” Shining a light-weight on fact, to not punish, however to heal, is essential to the method. Fact is central to belief constructing, which can be key.
Subsequent, the method includes collaboration and restoring relationships. Constructing bridges the place they didn’t exist and constructing on strengths, widespread objectives, values, and our shared humanity may also help divided teams unite and collaborate.
Lastly, restoration and therapeutic can happen. Therapeutic can are available in a myriad of the way and might look completely different to everybody and each group, however for me, the bottom line is motion. What actions foster restoration and therapeutic? Every group could also be completely different, however the final result is geared toward transformation. The therapeutic energy of artwork, music, storytelling, and collaborative initiatives executed in solidarity is inspired all through the method.
A Social Work Name to Motion
As an expert social employee, reflecting on the Nationwide Day of Racial Therapeutic underscores for me the determined want for extra fact and reconciliation efforts in our nation and the necessity for social staff to prepared the ground. As social staff, we’re in each a novel and thrilling place to assist usher in social change for social justice this yr. We’re particularly educated and expert not solely to grasp social injustices, like systemic racism and historic trauma, however to assist others see and face it, and work to foster therapeutic—throughout micro, mezzo, and macro ranges. We all know the devastating influence oppressive methods have on people, households, teams, and communities, and we all know easy methods to work towards therapeutic. It’s what we do on some degree daily in observe.
Plus, one of many many distinctive and fantastic issues about our career is that we’re ethically sure to work for social change and to assist dismantle oppressive methods. We’re skilled for this and ethically required to do it, so let’s assist one another do it. The world wants us! Now greater than ever, the world wants us to prepared the ground and to make use of our abilities (not simply the micro ones) to prepare, agitate, and construct bridges to fact and reconciliation and in the end transformation and therapeutic in our nation.
It appears to me that our nation grows increasingly more divided as white supremacy rears its repulsive head by way of organized actions towards democracy, Vital Race Idea (CRT), in antisemitic assaults, in assaults towards transgender youth (and your entire LGBTQ+ group), and so forth. These injustices develop and fester like wounds in determined want of medical intervention, but changing into extra contaminated and deadly every day they’re left untreated. Households, pals, and communities are divided, and the significance of human relationships (a key worth of social work) is typically changed by the significance of political ideology.
This yr, I encourage us as a group of social staff to unite, set up, and construct on our strengths as skilled social staff in our respective communities and in our states. Let’s additionally construct on our nationwide strengths, like our work ethic, individualism, creativity, innovation, and our humanity to empower actual change.
It’s been executed earlier than by our predecessors who courageously united and fought for lots of the rights and privileges many people take with no consideration at this time. We honor them in coming collectively, constructing on strengths, and utilizing our skilled training and abilities to create social change this yr. We will study from our colleagues in restorative justice and from nations which have used formal fact and reconciliation commissions (like South Africa and Canada) and numerous communities which have used the method to foster therapeutic.
Dr. Satara Charlson serves as a professor of social work at UMASS International.
