Race and Social Policy

Race and Social Policy, edited by Sandra Edmonds Crewe, views current-day racism toward Black Americans in the United States through the lens of critical race theory, the concept that systemic racism permeates laws, policies, and institutions. With its legal origins, critical race theory can also provide a framework for understanding social policy because it relates to racism. In the medical field, this theory may be a less well-known concept which readers can be introduced to integrate into their practice and understanding of the impact of policy decisions. This book includes 12 articles from a special edition of the journal Social Work in Public Health first published in 2019 (volume 34, issue 1). These articles were mostly written by social workers with a focus that would be most beneficial to social workers. Other disciplines involved in developmental and behavioral pediatric care may find them useful in understanding the social context around racial issues through the lens of critical race theory. These chapters investigate the bidirectional effects of social policy and racism in the United States beginning with the slave trade, emphasizing the importance of taking a historical perspective. Topics examined include poverty, the workplace, media, housing, elections, education, welfare, fatherhood, disability, justice, the elderly, and the Christian church. The first chapter provides an overview which most readers could find helpful in deciding which additional chapters may be most interesting and relevant to their practice. For example, as a pediatric clinician, the chapter on Black fathers was enlightening. Specifically, it connected current family structures with historical context, emphasizing the ways slavery devalued the family unit and led to mothers taking on the sole caregiving role. The book calls its readers to action and provides some suggested policy changes. For example, the welfare chapter recommends collecting racial demographic data, and the chapter on education highlights the importance of recruiting Black and Latinx teachers. However, some readers may expect and hope for more recommendations in all chapters. By including only, the original journal articles published in 2019, the authors have missed many opportunities for editing these articles to fit the audience of 2023 and beyond. Noting, for example, the racial disparities highlighted by COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd in 2020, a multitude of events since 2019 have made prominent the impact of systemic racism in the United States. Acknowledgement and analysis of these major incidents using a critical race theory frame would strengthen the text for readers in the present day. Furthermore, since the journal's publication in 2019, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of using equitable and inclusive language. In the past few years, many professional clinical organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have embraced and distributed guidelines for more equitable and inclusive language. However, this text does not acknowledge these language changes over time. Notably, chapter 9 "Inequities in Family Quality of Life for African American Families Raising Children with Disabilities" includes the use of the outdated term, "mental retardation," which is now perceived as pejorative. While the data presented in the chapter were collected in 2011 before the publication of the DSM-5, it was unsettling to read the term in a book published in 2023 with no explicit acknowledgement of the way language has progressed over the past decade. A book emphasizing critical race theory and the marginalization of Black Americans should also be sensitive to the experiences of other marginalized groups. For health care professionals, critical race theory provides a framework for understanding the systemic racial inequities their patients continue to face. This book examines current social policy and provides some useful suggestions for improvements in policy to create a more equitable and racially sensitive society, but it could benefit from being updated to provide readers with more current information. Furthermore, for those affiliated with a university, these articles may be available in databases to which their universities subscribe. With limited modifications made since 2019, the book and journal articles are nearly the same.