Racism: Past and Present

To Prepare

• Review the assigned essays from the text by Adams et al.  
• Review the Required Media—the podcast and the video—in the Learning Resources this week. 
• Research and select a historical event—older than 5 years—as it relates to racism. This can be any event you believe is important in understanding racism in the U.S. 
• Research and select a current event—within the past 12 months—as it relates to racism. This can be any event you believe is important in understanding racism in the U.S.

Submit a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following: 

Describe the historical event and how it exposes racism, either overtly or through more subtle actions due to the systemic nature of the problem. Please include the following in your description: 

• Overview of the event, including the general time period, inciting incident, and parties involved. 
• Outcome of the event, including any major social or political changes as a result. 
• Connection to social work, either through its  impact on ongoing research in the field or on the treatment of populations. 

Describe the current event and how it exposes racism, either overtly or through more subtle actions due to the systemic nature of the problem. Please include the following in your description: 

• Overview of the event, including the time period, inciting incident, and parties involved. 
• Outcome of the event, including any major social or political changes as a result (if there is no immediate outcome, share possible or proposed outcomes). 
• Connection to social work, either through its impact on ongoing research in the field or on the treatment of populations. 

Then, compare the two events. Consider the following to help guide your comparison: 

• How were the causes of the two events similar?  
• How were the causes of the two events different? 
• Did the outcome of the historical event have any positive impacts on the response to the current event? If not, explain how the systemic nature of racism may have played a role in this lack of      progress. 
• How have both events impacted social work? Explain how the profession may have responded differently in each time period. 
• How would you rate U.S. social and political progress toward addressing systemic racism based on these two events?

APA Format. Please use all sources within the paper. Conclusion of paper the overall paper at the end.