Do We as Black Professionals Working Within Predominately White Spaces Ever Get Adequate Supervision?
As the only Black social worker working in a predominately white agency, I feel like brother outsider. Every day I feel like I am under attack. This is no mere exaggeration as to be the only black professional working within predominately white spaces constitutes as a hostile work environment in my opinion. Sadly, we as black professionals are oftentimes the unfortunate beneficiaries of psychological workplace violence. However such violence is unseen, unheard of and therefore, not believed. Such psychological violence is often served up in the form of passive aggressiveness of white coworkers, accusations disguised as “support” and electronic communication that can be extremely bias and demoralizing i.e. the c/c feature as covertly aggressive. For me, the new form of psychological violence is the lack of adequate supervision at my place of employment. Not having an in-house place where I can safely explore client concerns and also obtain new tools and skills to address those concerns has made me feel like where I work is no longer a safe space. In fact, I am beginning to feel like it is a threat to my resolve to remain a competent, effective and knowledgeable social worker.
According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), supervision “protects clients, supports practitioners and ensures that professional standards and quality services are delivered by competent social workers”. As the only black social worker at a predominately white agency, I do not feel supported which has indirectly put my clients’ in jeopardy as well. Thankfully I am competent enough to seek supervision outside of the agency as a preventative measure. But this causes me to ask myself questions such as: why should I have to go outside of the agency to get my needs met? Why am I forced to go through the unnecessary work of disguising client cases, using pseudonyms and masking client issues? Why do I have to seek support outside when I work within a profession that encourages if not guarantees adequate supervision? As black professionals, we are often burdened by questions and challenged even more by the answers.
There was a time when I was receiving supervision at my current agency. It was infrequent but at least I was getting some form of supervision. Now, I am not getting anything. Truth be told, I have not had supervision at my current agency in over 8 months. The last time I had supervision, it was mainly me being the midwife to my white supervisors grief, listening to her bitch and moan about another coworker, about her family stressors, Hell, it felt like I was conducting a session in which I should have billed for. Needless to say, it was not helpful at all. In fact, it cemented my decision to seek outside support because often times when you are the only black professional working within predominately white spaces, you learn early that you will never be supported within these spaces. In fact, you come to count on not getting any support as a way to jumpstart your own desire to seek support elsewhere, which is what happened. What is that saying, “necessity is the mother of invention”. Well, in this case absence is the father of ingenuity.
As black professionals working in predominately white spaces, the fact is this: We are oftentimes not given adequate supervision by our white supervisors. We are not given the mentorship, the education and the supervision that can enhance our advancement. What I have noticed from my personal experience in the social work profession is that white women supervisors often times deny us education and information due to unaddressed bias and fear that should we know certain things, we will take their jobs. As black social workers, we have often times been the beneficiaries of misinformation, inaccurate and incomplete information which has hampered our ability to do our jobs effectively. We have often been charged with the responsibility of finding things out either by osmosis or word-of-mouth. Our direct inquiries have been met with indirect responses and veiled attempts to frustrate processes to avoid providing solutions. We constantly have our genuine questions met with suspicion and the unwarranted questioning of our motivation and intent. Many of my white supervisors have asked me such questions as “why do you want to know that” when asked questions about policy, procedure and agency functioning. It has become quite clear that some white supervisors want to do anything to try and ensure your failure due to their own unaddressed biases and insecurities.
Additionally I’ve noticed within these biased spaces that we as black professionals are given just enough information to throw off any suspicions or potential accusations of bias but are never given sufficient information to really help us access the services that are needed to really effect change. We are not empowered through the provision of comprehensive information. We are given the illusion of empowerment by way of the bare minimum. This is why I have difficulties trusting supervision coming from white supervisors. I do not always feel like they have my best interests at heart. I do not feel like they want me to succeed. Within these spaces I quickly learn that I will not be nurtured and encouraged to grow here. The feedback they provide is never perceived as constructive when you know it is coming from a place of bias and cultural superiority. Tell me, how does one trust the instruction of a person who you know wants you not to exist?
In order for supervision to be effective, there has to be a measure of trust between you and your supervisor. There has to be mutual respect, a willingness to hear and receive constructive feedback as well as trust in your supervisors’ insight and judgment. Many times in my social work career I have been supervised by white women who have felt threatened by my credentials, my skillset and my ability to establish rapport with diverse populations which has caused them to try and offer inaccurate feedback that has only caused me to question their intentions, skillset and ability to supervise effectively.
In order to protect my clients, I decided to get supervision outside of my work environment. I just feel like outsourced support, though beneficial, really is a symptom of a toxic work environment and when you feel like you work in a snake pit, and like you cannot go to your supervisors for support, answers, validation and constructive reinforcement, it really makes you feel hella lonely and professionally shipwrecked!
I see my white coworkers often times thrive in such settings because they are not burdened with the baggage of bias. They are free to ask questions with their supervisors without being perceived as being difficult or combative. In predominately white spaces, they can smoosh with their peers and find a sense of camaraderie and closeness in shared experiences. They are not looked upon as a threat and something to be watched, surveilled, monitored and suspected. They are free to bloom in peace while black professionals always have to as the poet Gwendolyn Brooks so eloquently stated: ‘Conduct our blooming in the noise and whip of the whirlwind’.
Truth is when you do not see yourself reflected in an agency, it becomes hard to trust the agency. Many agencies encourage longevity but when it comes to maintaining black professionals, the longevity comes from witnessing true diversity. We rarely see ourselves in management positions. We as black professionals are always fed to the system by administration and truth is, administration rarely ever looks like us. In many ways we are still on these modern day plantations working the fields. We are still relying on the plantation to get our needs met. It’s time we begin to form our own agencies and begin to seek support from one another. I recently had a supervision session with a black social worker and it was so affirming. It felt thoroughly nourishing and joyfully replenishing to my hungry black soul. It was what I knew I was missing yet did not know how much I needed all at the same time. I definitely felt the difference.
I will continue to seek supervision elsewhere because as I mentioned earlier, it is dangerous for me to assume that I will ever get support at my current place of work. I have realistically assessed the limitations of my agency and have realized that asking my supervisor to provide supportive supervision is like asking a paraplegic to a sock-hop. I know better because requesting support from such toxic environments in the past has left me angry, frustrated and disillusioned. In order for me to provide effective services to my clients, I must be at my best and this includes me getting adequate supervision from those who I trust, respect and know have my back.
