The Black Experience and Contemporary Society

Catalog description

This course is developed and designed to comply with the University’s General Education Complexities of a Pluralistic Society based on the new Core Curriculum requirements. It provides students with a theoretical framework and perspective for understanding the contributions and advancements that African Americans have made to American society in spite of overt and covert obstacles that continue to confront them. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the historical and contemporary African American experience as viewed from the generalist social work perspective. To this end, this course traces the historical and ideological roots of discrimination, prejudice and institutional racism in the United States of America and examines the African American experience within the context of individual, group and community systems. It proceeds from the premise that being African American too often exposes one to negative differential treatment by social institutions and/or their representatives. The functions of social institutions for the African American community are explored as well as the consequences these institutions have on the majority community. Additionally, this course strives to introduce students to the use of effective strategies at the individual, family, group, community, and governmental levels to offset the negative consequences of racism.