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Addressing Whataboutisms in Anti-Racist Social Work Practice

Source: USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Resource Type: Video or Multimedia

Focus Population: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), Behavioral Health Leaders

Topics: Behavioral Health Organizational Guidance Docs, Experience of Racism, Discrimination, and Oppression, Trauma-informed

A panel discussion featuring California Social Work Hall of Distinction Board member, Joseph Nunn, and Hall of Distinction past inductees, Barbara Solomon, and Alex Norman, moderated by Dr. Ruth C. White addressing Whataboutisms in Anti-Racist Social Work Practice. Have you noticed that the harder it is to deny systemic racism, the more outrageous the pushback becomes? Anti-blackness and racial discrimination are two issues that have continued to be prevalent in our society despite the Civil Rights Acts, and Affirmative Action mandated efforts. While today, we are witnessing mainstream support for Black Lives Matter, we also see an increase of a type of psychological gaslighting retort, also known as ‘whataboutism.’ During the Cold War, the term was coined over human rights violations and systemic oppression perpetuated by one nation and criticizing others doing the same.