A Historical Perspective of Social Work and Race

Leigh-Anne Francis, an assistant professor with a dual appointment in the departments of African American Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The College of New Jersey, presented the Smith College School for Social Work 2017 Anti-Racism Lecture, Jane Crow (In)Justice: African American Women, Mass Incarceration, and the Mainstreaming of White Supremacy (A History of the Present). Before her talk, Francis spoke to us about the historical, convergent forces of ideological and institutional racism, classism, sexism, and carceral state violence impacting the individuals and communities social workers encounter in the field.