State Laws Ignored: Counseling Accreditation and How to Demand Reform NOW!
The accreditation controversy and how to force lawmakers to take notice
Under what circumstance would it be acceptable for accreditors to knowingly require a standard that flouts state law? The idea is worth consideration because that is exactly what the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) is doing. And I’m willing to bet, they are not the only ones.
**Scroll to the section titled Cut and Paste to get all this information in a package you can cut, paste, and send to your lawmakers.
The evidence that CACREP knows its standard breaks state law is openly available (pdf version) on their website (HTML), at least right now. It is in their policy statement to educators on how they should be managing their end of upholding the standard. In case it disappears there, you can see it here in this screenshot:
This is the full text:
When CACREP Standards Conflict with State/Local Laws. If CACREP Standards, policies, or procedures conflict with any local or state laws governing an institution, it is the responsibility of the counselor education program to notify CACREP of the conflict and suggest one or more alternative resolutions that demonstrate the counselor education program’s willingness to meet the intent of the Standards, policies, or procedures in question.
Notice how their priority is that the universities “demonstrate the counselor education program’s willingness to meet the intent of the Standards.” So what they are effectively saying is, “Yeah, we know this might be illegal in your state, but we want you to prove to us that you want to meet it anyway.”
Tennessee (and other) State Law
You might be wondering what could possibly make an educational standard illegal. The answer is indoctrination and demanding belief. In Tennessee, the state focused specifically on what they called “Divisive concept(s)”. To be explicit, they don’t want educators to teach racism and bigotry. That was made into law with House Bill No. 2290 which states:
The general assembly finds that the divisive concepts described in Section 3 of this act exacerbate and inflame divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, and other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the United States of America and the well-being of this state and its citizens.
They were very clear about what they didn’t want, as you can see:
“Divisive concept” means a concept that:
(A) One ( 1) race or sex is inherently superior or inferior to another race or sex;
(B) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously;
(C) An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment because of the individual's race or sex;
(D) An individual's moral character is determined by the individual's race or sex;
(E) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;
(F) An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or another form of psychological distress solely because of the individual's race or sex;
(G) A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist, or designed by a particular race or sex to oppress another race or sex;
(H) This state or the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist;
(I) Promotes or advocates the violent overthrow of the United States government;
(J) Promotes division between, or resentment of, a race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class, or class of people;
(K) Ascribes character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges, or beliefs to a race or sex, or to an individual because of the individual's race or sex;
(L) The rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups;
(M) All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
(N) Governments should deny to any person within the government's jurisdiction the equal protection of the law;
(0) Includes race or sex stereotyping; or
(P) Includes race or sex scapegoating;
The law goes on to detail what the legislators mean by “race or sex scapegoating” and “race or sex stereotyping,” but you get the gist.
According to Education Week, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia all have similar laws.
Education Week also goes on to state:
Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. Eighteen states are imposing these bans and restrictions either through legislation or other avenues.
You can see the complaint that these laws “would restrict … or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism. Hmmmm. Yes. Well, we will take a gander at what that looks like shortly.
But first, let’s examine CACREP’s accreditation standard and why they already know it “conflicts” with state law.
Why CACREP’s Standard Has Legal Trouble
The following are selected passages from the CACREP 2024 accreditation standard. I’m including just a few of the questionable passages. Readers can scroll to the Cut and Paste section to see the full list, ready to cut, paste, and send to your lawmakers, especially those in states that have already passed laws that forbid teaching bigotry.
So check these out. This is what CACREP is demanding counseling programs do and provide. Do you see any problems?
The counselor education program has a process for identifying underrepresented populations and makes continuous and systematic efforts to recruit, enroll, and retain students that enhance and support the diversity of the program.
The student handbook, for all program delivery types, includes: diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies;
Syllabi consistent with program delivery types are available to students enrolled in the course at the beginning of each academic term and include: diversity, equity, inclusion, and accommodation statement;
The counselor education program identifies underrepresented populations and makes continuous and systematic efforts to recruit, employ, and retain faculty that enhance and support the diversity of the program.
PROGRAM MISSION: reflects counseling practice in a diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations;
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: reflect current knowledge and projected needs concerning counseling practice in a diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations;
FOUNDATIONAL COUNSELING CURRICULUM
The curriculum for entry-level programs provides for obtaining essential knowledge and skills necessary to function effectively as a professional counselor across service delivery modalities.
Curriculum knowledge domains and outcome expectations are frequently interrelated and not mutually exclusive. Ethical behavior, diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical thinking are integral to counselor preparation and should be infused throughout the curriculum. Diversity refers to all aspects of intersectional and cultural identity. Counselor preparation programs address culturally sustaining content and strategies across the eight foundational curriculum areas.
Counselor education programs must document where and in what manner each of the numbered standards listed below is covered in the curriculum.
1. theories and models of multicultural counseling, social justice, and advocacy
2. the influence of heritage, cultural identities, attitudes, values, beliefs, understandings, within-group differences, and acculturative experiences on individuals’ worldviews
3. the influence of heritage, cultural identities, attitudes, values, beliefs, understandings, within-group differences, and acculturative experiences on help-seeking and coping behaviors
4. the effects of historical events, multigenerational trauma, and current issues on diverse cultural groups in the U.S. and globally
5. the effects of stereotypes, overt and covert discrimination, racism, power, oppression, privilege, marginalization, microaggressions, and violence on counselors and clients
6. the effects of various socio-cultural influences, including public policies, social movements, and cultural values, on mental and physical health and wellness
7. disproportional effects of poverty, income disparities, and health disparities toward people with marginalized identities
8. principles of independence, inclusion, choice and self-empowerment, and access to services within and outside the counseling relationship
9. strategies for identifying and eliminating barriers, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination
10. guidelines developed by professional counseling organizations related to social justice, advocacy, and working with individuals with diverse cultural identities
11. the role of religion and spirituality in clients’ and counselors’ psychological functioning
SCHOOL COUNSELING
5. design and evaluation of school counseling curriculum, lesson plan development, diverse classroom management strategies,
6. school counselor roles as leaders, advocates, and systems change agents in PK-12 schools
19. strategies to promote equity in student achievement
TEACHING
f) integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice principles and practices in the counselor education curriculum
l) culturally sustaining strategies for counselor education
RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
l) strategies for conducting culturally relevant and culturally competent research
Professional Dispositions – The commitments, characteristics, values, beliefs, and behaviors that influence the counselor’s professional growth and interactions with clients, faculty, supervisors, and peers, including working in a diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations.
Looking at the curriculum requirements, one wonders where students will find the time to learn about psychology and how to effectively counsel clients.
Among the things that this standard calls for are a class that covers multicultural issues in counseling and a requirement for certain student “dispositions”.
In practice, what this means is that all accredited programs have a class on Multicultural Counseling. This class can be called, “Counseling Diverse Population,” “Diversity & Social Justice in the Clinical Encounter,” “Social and Cultural Aspects of Counseling,” “Cross-cultural Counseling,” or something similar.
And students must show that they accept this worldview. We’ll talk more about dispositions in a minute, but first, let’s look at what they teach in those multicultural classes.
Multicultural Counseling Textbooks
Recall how Education Week lamented that teachers would be — restricted … or limited in how they can discuss racism and sexism. Quoting straight from four different textbooks on multicultural counseling, this is what lawmakers want to curtail:
From Counseling the Culturally Diverse 9th Edition by Derald Wing Sue
Chapter 1: Understanding Resistance to Multicultural Training: Obstacles to Developing Cultural Competence
Reading and digesting the content of this book may prove difficult and filled with powerful feeling for many of you. Some readers find the substance of the book difficult to absorb and have reacted very strongly to the content. According to instructors of multicultural counseling and therapy (MCT) classes, the powerful feelings aroused in some students prevent them form being open to diversity issues, and from making classroom discussion on the topic a learning opportunity. Instead, conversations on diversity become “shouting matches” or become monologues rather than dialogues. These instructors indicate that the content of the book challenges many White students about their racial, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity realities, and the books’ socio/cultural/political orientation also arouses deep feeling of defensiveness, anger, anxiety, guilt, sadness, hopelessness, and a multitude of other strong emotions.
REACTIONS TO THE COURSE
First, the reactions by the White student reveal immense anger at the content of Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice (CCD), and especially at the authors whom are labeled “hate-mongers” and “racists.” It is obvious that the student feels the book is bias and propagandistic. The language used by the student seems to indicate defensiveness and the material covered in the book is easily dismissed as political indoctrination.
Is the material in the book, biased and political rhetoric, or is the White student having his view of the world challenged? We will delve more deeply into these emotive reactions shortly, but it appears that the student feels unjustly accused of being bigoted. To feel less guilty, the student emphasizes that minorities are equally prejudiced against White Americans. Although it may be an accurate observation, it serves to make the student and other Whites less culpable by equating one form of bias with another. If the student can get other groups to admit they too are “racist,” then less guilt and responsibility for one’s own biased beliefs and actions will be experienced.
A WORD OF CAUTION
There is a word of caution that needs to be directed toward students of marginalized groups as they read CCD and find it affirming and validating. In teaching the course, we have often encountered students of color who become very contentious and highly outspoken toward White classmates. A good example is provided in the reaction of the African American student in the fourth scenario. It is clear that the student seems to take delight in seeing his White classmates “squirm” and be uncomfortable.
In our teaching in multicultural classes, we have observed many types of denials that work against honest diversity discussions. There are denials that students are prejudiced, that racism still exists, that they are responsible for the oppression of others, that White American occupy an advantaged and privileged position, that they hold power over People of Color, and even
denial that they are White. This latter point (Whiteness and White privilege) is an especially “hot topic” that will be thoroughly discussed in Chapter 7.
CHAPTER 7: White Racial Consciousness: Implications for Counseling and Psychotherapy
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Acquire an understanding of what it means to be White. Be able to discern differences between how Whites and People of Color experience “Whiteness.”
2. Understand how Whiteness advantages White European American individuals and disadvantages People of Color.
3. Describe and discuss the various conceptualizations of White racial identity development.
4. Learn how levels of White racial consciousness may affect the counseling process.
5. Learn what a White person can do in order to develop a nonracist and antiracist White identity.
6. Learn what White helping professionals can do in order to prevent their Whiteness from negatively impacting clients of color.
To be clear, having a right to free speech does not include the right of a teacher to indoctrinate, verbally abuse, or otherwise teach a reprehensible ideology as though it is fact. That includes college professors.
Let’s look at another textbook for multicultural counseling: Developing Multicultural Counseling Competence by Danica G Hayes and Bradley T. Erford. Quotes are from both the 3rd and 4th editions.
NEW TO THIS EDITION
• New focus on White supremacy: Beginning with Chapter 4 and continuing throughout the text, we address directly the role of White supremacy on the communities examined. By identifying the effects of a legacy of White supremacy, the text will enable students to see its continued impact on day-to-day life and use an appropriate framework to address it within their practice and throughout their careers.
• Chapter 4: In this chapter, White supremacy and its link to White privilege are introduced. Additional new terms are also included in this chapter, such as anti-racism and ally. Furthermore, we discuss the role of White supremacy and racism in immigration today and update the historical timeline of combatting racism for people of color.
• Chapter 14: Information regarding White supremacy and its development and sustainment among individuals and families of European and European American descent is new to this edition. Additional discussion of multicultural and social justice counseling strategies with White clients is also provided.
Privilege vs. Oppression – Privilege refers to the often unconscious and unearned power, access to resources, advantage, and social position based on cultural group memberships. Privileged cultural groups in U.S. society typically include Whites, males, heterosexuals, those with a higher socioeconomic status, the able bodied, and Christians. Because certain individuals have privilege, others within various cultural groups experience oppression: lack of power, inaccessibility of resources, disadvantage, and minority social status. Oppressed cultural groups include racial and ethnic minority groups, females, sexual minorities, the less able bodied, those of lower socioeconomic status, and religious minorities.
Social Advocacy and Social Justice – Social advocacy refers to the promotion of an idea, policy, or cause that betters the lives of those who experience oppression. Social justice is the realization of a just and equitable world for all individuals.
Counselors and counselor trainees have varying levels of awareness of the role that cultural privilege and oppression play in both the counseling relationship and clients’ daily lives.
Peggy McIntosh (1988) wrote the classic and highly cited work on White privilege wherein she described 46 conditions of unearned advantages of having White skin color. These advantages include individual experiences (e.g., favorable situations in stores and job interviews, and not experiencing discrimination in daily living), institutional advantages (e.g., a positive portrayal in the media, adequate housing, and educational opportunities), access to things representative of culture, and the ability to avoid or ignore cultural contributions of other racial/ethnic groups.
Having racial privilege is like having an “invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks” (McIntosh, 1988, p. 77). Racial privilege embraces unearned advantages based on being constructed as White. Many of these advantages are derived from a history of Whites implementing individual, institutional, and cultural racism, dating back to when Columbus “discovered” America. Because race may be invisible to Whites, it is imperative to reflect on one’s early memories of being a member of a particular racial group or racial groups. Consider the questions in Reflection 4.4, and then read “Early Memories of Whiteness and White Privilege,” provided in Table 4.2.
Additional characteristics of White privilege include the following:
• White privilege is often invisible to Whites.
• White privilege contains psychological and intellectual costs to Whites.
• There are several myths Whites hold that can perpetuate White privilege.
• White privilege differentially benefits Whites.
• Individuals who do not identify as White may have some degree of White privilege.
RACE AND RACISM
Being exposed to, reflecting on, and discussing racism and White supremacy is a challenging task. For White people, reading about these concepts and ways in which they manifest in U.S. society can incite confusion, anger, guilt, frustration, and sadness, perhaps all at the same time. Because of these emotions, it may be tempting to forgo learning more about racism and White supremacy or take some personal ownership for perpetuating it. For people of color, these topics can reopen old wounds and create new ones, stimulating emotions similar to those of White people but for distinct reasons. We encourage you to be open to the material in this chapter; it will challenge you in different ways and, depending on other aspects of your cultural identity, it will resonate with you in diverse ways. Thus, this material may be difficult to integrate into your worldview. As you read the material in the chapter, we hope that you will consider how the concepts presented arise and appear in your everyday life and whether you find examples of racism and White privilege in yourself, in your family and peers, within the media, or in government policies, educational institutions, the workplace, and so on. We also hope that you will consider how you may be intentionally or unintentionally perpetuating the status quo through your actions and inactions.
The textbook Comprehensive Multicultural Education in Theory and Practice 9th Edition was written for similar coursework required of teachers in training. It is currently in use at the newly CACREP accredited Counseling program of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
In addition to developing a strong sense of self, including ethnic, national, and religious or
spiritual identities, our children and youth need to gain the ability to view people and events from multiple perspectives and to recognize hidden societal structures of oppression as a foundation for action as young adults. To some readers this may sound overly optimistic or unrealistic, given the many demands.
NEW TO THIS EDITION
■■ Revised Chapter: Chapter 10: “The Promise of Culturally Competent Teaching”.
■■ New Chapter: Chapter 11: “How Does Gender Make a Difference?”.
■■ Inclusion of John Ogbu’s work on “voluntary immigrants” and “caste-like minorities”.
■■ Expanded discussion of colonialism, Indigenous Peoples, and Latinos in the Southwest.
■■ Updated content on indicators of the nation’s racial climate, and an expanded discussion of White privilege, anti-racism, talking about racism, and teaching for social justice.
GOALS AND RATIONALE
The book deals with questions students continually ask that too often are left hanging. Doesn’t multicultural education lead to lower academic standards? Won’t cultural pluralism lead to the Balkanization of our society? Aren’t we really stereotyping when we talk about cultural differences? Isn’t it racist? Are you saying I can’t set up my own standards for acceptable behavior in my classroom? How can I add multicultural content when I don’t have time to cover the basic curriculum? What does multicultural education have to do with math and science or with physical education? Doesn’t multicultural education really boil down to indoctrination?
My approach to multicultural education focuses on ethnic diversity and community in the United States, diversity rooted in racial, cultural, and individual differences; it also emphasizes basic human similarities and global connections; and it addresses the structural barriers (often hidden) in schools and society that keep racial injustice and oppression alive.
Teachers and administrators who are uninformed about cultural diversity, whose knowledge of history and current events is monocultural in scope, and who are unaware of institutional racism and/or their own prejudices are likely to hinder the academic success and personal development of many students, however unintentional this may be.
A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS POSITIVE INTERRACIAL CONTACT
For example, many White teachers and students are unknowingly ignorant about the structures and meanings of Ebonics, African American vernacular. The double negative “ain’t got no” may signify a “low-class,” uneducated person, while use of the term “nigger” among Blacks may be viewed by Whites as insulting or threatening. Black students, on the other hand, might regard all Whites as racist and interpret the behaviors of White teachers and classmates from that perspective.
CULTURAL RACISM
Cultural racism includes both individual and institutional expressions of racial superiority and suppression. It refers to the subtle and pervasive uses of power by Whites “to perpetuate their cultural heritage and impose it upon others, while at the same time destroying the culture of ethnic minorities.”13 Cultural racism combines ethnocentrism—the view that other cultures are inferior to the Anglo-European—and the power to suppress or eradicate manifestations of non-Anglo-European cultures. The legacy of cultural racism can be found in the Eurocentric formal curriculum—in tests, media, and course offerings. It can also be detected in the hidden, informal curriculum, as in low expectations for minority-student achievement held by nonminority teachers, ethnic/racial myths and stereotypes held by students and teachers, and an unfamiliar, non supportive, unfriendly, or hostile school environment. Cultural racism within the United States is the belief in the inferiority of the implements, handicrafts, agriculture, economics, music, art, religious beliefs, traditions, language, and story of non-Anglo-European peoples and the belief that these people have no distinctive culture apart from that of mainstream White America.14
To finish the set, here are selections from Cultural Diversity — A Primer for the Human Services 5th Edition by Jerry Diller. There are a few other books which are used for the CACREP required multicultural counseling class, but so far I have yet to find one that is not wildly racist and bigoted. Behold, these quotes:
Chapter 4 – Understanding Racism, Prejudice, and White Privilege
Racism is a broad and all-pervasive social phenomenon that is mutually reinforced at all levels of society. In this regard, J. M. Jones (1972) distinguishes three levels of racism: individual, institutional, and cultural…. Institutional racism involves the manipulation of societal institutions to give preferences and advantages to Whites and at the same time restrict the choices, rights, mobility, and access of people of color. While individual racism resides within the person, the institutional variety is wired into the very fabric of social institutions: into their rules, practices, and procedures. Some forms of institutional racism are subtle and hidden; others are overt and obvious. All however serve to deny and limit access to those who are culturally diverse. Cultural racism is the belief that the cultural ways of one group are superior to those of another. In the United States, it takes the form of practices that “attribute value and normality to White people and Whiteness, and devalue, stereotype, and label People of Color as ‘other,’ different, less than, or render them invisible”. Cultural racism can be found both in individuals and in institutions. In the former, it is often referred to as ethnocentrism. Each level of racism supports and reinforces the others, and together they contribute to its general resistance to change. Later sections of this chapter explore the working of each in depth, as well as inquire into the relevance of each for providers working with culturally diverse clients.
RACIAL CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG WHITES
White Privilege
Most insidious is that to most Whites, it is all but invisible. For them, it is so basic a part of daily experience and existence and so available to everyone in their “world” that it is never acknowledged or even given a second thought. Or at last it seems that way.
If one digs a little deeper, however, there is a strong element of defensiveness and denial. Whites tend to see themselves as individuals, just “regular people,” part of the human race but not members of a particular racial group. They are in fact, shocked when others relate to them racially (i.e., as “White”).
WHITE RACIAL ATTITUDE TYPES
Rowe, Behrens, and Leach (1995) offer a framework for understanding how White European Americans think about race and racial differences. Their research has generated seven attitude structures or types that Whites can adopt vis-à-vis race and people of color.
A MODEL OF WHITE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Helms (1995) offers a somewhat different approach to understanding how Whites experience and relate to race in the United States through her model of White racial identity development.
Whites at this level of awareness have developed a defense that Helms calls "obliviousness" to keep the issue of race out of consciousness.
BECOMING A CULTURAL ALLY
Acknowledges the privilege that he or she receives as a member of the culturally dominant group
Listens and believes the experiences of marginalized group members without diminishing, dismissing, normalizing, or making their experience invisible
Is willing to take risks, try new behaviors, and act in spite of his or her own fear and resistance from other agents
Is humble and does not act as an expert in the marginalized group culture
Is willing to be confronted about his or her own behavior and attitudes and consider change
Takes a stand against oppression even when no marginalized-group person is present
Believes that he or she can make a difference by acting and speaking out against social injustice
Knows how to cultivate support from other allies
Works to understand his or her own privilege and does not burden the marginalized group to provide continual education
I dare say, yes, the CACREP standard does seem to ‘conflict’ with the Tennessee law, to put it mildly.
It also ‘conflicts’ with ethical standards and mental health best practices up until five minutes ago.
Americans should be aware that these standards have been implemented in 472 institutions, sometimes double, triple, and quadruple dipping over slightly different concentrations (see screenshot below) to reach a total of 983 CACREP-accredited programs.
It is unclear if universities get a bulk discount when they have to get multiple accreditations, but what is clear is that this colossal leech of tax dollars is knowingly demanding universities break state laws to teach vile racist and bigoted material while gas-lighting and bullying students into compliance.
This is how Mental Health therapists are trained.
Is it any wonder we have a mental health crisis on our hands?
Evaluating Belief in Social Justice
Remember that bit in the standards about dispositions? Look at these screenshots for the University of Tennessee’s Counseling Masters Handbook. This chart shows how students are evaluated regarding these ‘dispositions’ and how well they fall in line with parroting these Social Justice values.
You can download the UTK program handbook to see even more, but the problem should be obvious. Students are evaluated on how compliant they are with social justice dogma, a standard that has a negative bearing on the qualities that make for a good counselor.
Something Must Be Done, Now
The answer to under what circumstance would it be acceptable for accreditors to knowingly require a standard that flouts state law, is there are none. If independent states are making laws against what you teach, it’s time to re-evaluate. Since that’s not happening, it is past time for Americans to act.
The only way this gets better is if we fight for it. On 3 January 2025, the new U.S. Congress will begin its session. Tennessee will start its new legislative session on 14 January 2025, with other states returning on a similar timeline.
We must let them know that this has got to stop, immediately.
The problem is that many lawmakers may not be aware of these details and they may need help to understand the scope of what is happening here. They also need to hear our voices, as constituents, parents, and clients of therapy.
Depending on what state you live in, you may need to push for different things, but even if you are in California or New York, you can confront your lawmakers with this information and force them to declare a side.
Use LegiScan to find and track your lawmakers. Use the tools, tips, and letter template from my prior work to get started and this strategy information to help you decide what are the best steps to take in your state.
On the state level consider asking for:
a formal opinion from your Attorney General on whether the CACREP standard is legal in your state
Action to eliminate CACREP accreditation requirements in your state universities by withholding funding from programs that endorse ideologically biased content instead of past evidence-based treatment methods
restructuring of counseling licensing standards, other legal agreements, and directives to eliminate CACREP-accredited degree requirements.
On the Federal level consider asking for:
Remove the requirement for a CACREP-accredited degree for employment at the Army, Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Defense, and for the TRICARE Certified Mental Health Counselor credential.
CACREPs authority to accredit be revoked.
The entire system of accreditation should be reformed or dissolved.
Below, you will find all the supporting documents you need to show your lawmakers that CACREP knowingly requires educators to try to break state law, that their standard calls for the indoctrination of divisive, bigoted ideology, and that the resulting textbooks back that up. And that CACREP wastes tax dollars with multiple accreditations for similar programs at the same university.
I will begin sending this out to my lawmakers tomorrow myself, and working with FAIR I will be sharing and promoting this across the country. Let’s make our voices heard. The time is NOW.
Cut and Paste — A Packet for Your Lawmakers
This is a sample letter you can use to send to your lawmakers. If you prefer, you can use the one on this page. Use the above suggestions to ask for what you want, or put in some of your own. Reach out to Representatives and Senators at both the state and federal levels.
This is how you make a difference.
Date
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, ZIP Code
Your Email Address
Your Phone Number
The Honorable _________________________
[Name of State Senate or House Representative]
[Address of your state’s legislative office]
Dear Senator/Representative ___________,
I am a [insert personal description: parent, community leader, etc.] I’m reaching out with deep concerns regarding state [or Federal] funding for CACREP-accredited counseling programs. The 2024 CACREP accreditation standards emphasize Social Justice ideology over evidence-based mental health practices, and on their website have policy guidelines to address situations where their standards break state law. I believe that our state [or country] should carefully evaluate whether these programs align with [State or country’s] commitment to unbiased, effective mental health treatment.
After reviewing the CACREP standards and associated textbooks for the required Multicultural Social Justice class, I am concerned that these materials may be in violation of [State or U.S.] law. Not only do they promote divisive viewpoints, but they also require students to adopt ideological beliefs, training counselors to impose these values on clients, which is both unethical and contrary to best practices in mental health.
To address these concerns, I respectfully request:
A formal opinion from Attorney General [AGs Name] regarding the legality of these materials under [State/Federal] law.
Action to eliminate CACREP accreditation requirements in our state universities by withholding funding from programs that endorse ideologically biased content instead of evidence-based treatment methods.
A restructuring of counseling licensing standards, other legal agreements, and directives to eliminate CACREP-accredited degree requirements.
Currently, counseling programs in [Your State - only Hawaii does not] hold CACREP accreditation and, as a result, are producing graduates who are trained to evaluate clients based on immutable characteristics. These programs teach counselors to affirm pathological worldviews and behaviors, rather than treat them. These graduates also carry the authority to make determinations that impact their clients’ rights.
To support this request, I have attached:
A screenshot of the CACREP policy statement regarding how programs should address the illegality of the standards.
Quotes from CACREPs guidance documents on how universities can manage the edge of illegality in its standards.
Links to and quotes from the 2024 CACREP standards sections that raise concern.
As well as textbook selections from the required Multicultural Social Justice Counseling classes at Tennessee’s state universities.
Selections from the UTK Counseling Program handbook that show how these standards are being implemented by our flagship university to evaluate the compliance to Social Justice ideology of students.
I can provide more documentation as needed. These examples are part of a broader trend within CACREP and counseling that underscores the urgency of this issue.
Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter, which impacts the ethical standards of mental health practices in [Your State]. I look forward to hearing Attorney General [Your AG’s Name] assessment and working together to uphold [Your State’s] commitment to responsible, non-discriminatory counseling standards.
Sincerely,
Your name
CACREP Policy to Address Issues of State Illegality of their standards. That policy statement is currently available on their website in PDF form, and HTML.
CACREP has also made guidance documents available in PDF form which are intended to help counseling programs interpret their standards, particularly where they conflict with state laws. Below are selected quotes that call for contradictory action to address diversity, which is “systematic” but “not about setting quotas.”
The continuous and systematic efforts required by this standard may impact the demographic makeup of the counselor education program’s students over time. However, the standard is not about setting quotas. Nor would information about the program’s demographic makeup serve to address this requirement. Rather, the standard is about work the program must do intentionally to enhance and support diversity in the program. The response must address the program’s efforts (and their continuous, systematic nature) rather than specific demographic outcomes. The glossary definition of diversity is important in the context of responding to this standard.
Efforts to enhance and support the program’s diversity may include recruiting, enrolling, and retaining students from groups the program has identified as underrepresented. Such efforts may also include taking strategic steps related to recruitment, enrollment, and retention that creates a broader environment that enhances and supports diversity. The program should explain how its specific efforts in each area (recruitment, enrollment, retention) enhance and support the diversity of the program.
This standard addresses efforts at the program level; not what the program’s college, school or institution does. The program should describe its own intentional and sustained efforts to actively recruit, enroll, and retain students in a way that enhances and supports the diversity of the program. As part of program-level efforts, a program might tap into existing institutional support resources. If so, the response should describe and document the active steps that the program takes to connect with and leverage such resources.
In light of changes in state legislation taking place at the time these standards are being implemented, some programs have noted restrictions on gathering data related to race, ethnicity, or other aspects of diversity. The standards do require programs to address diversity, but do not specify what aspects of diversity must be addressed. Keeping in mind the multi-faceted definition of diversity in the glossary, programs make that determination and should explain their approach clearly when responding.
Programs should consider developing a plan related to this standard (and providing that plan as part of their documentation). As noted by the standard, a program’s efforts are required to be systematic, and the glossary definition of systematic (below) refers to the “planned” nature of systematic efforts. So, a written plan can establish the systematic nature of a program’s efforts. The program can frame their response in relation to the plan and can document the implementation of the stated activities/efforts described in the plan.
The 2024 CACREP Standards in PDF form or HTML are also currently available on their website. Below you will find the concerning passages quoted.
The development of the 2024 CACREP Standards came at a time when the United States and many parts of the world were addressing issues in diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and access;
The counselor education program has a process for identifying underrepresented populations and makes continuous and systematic efforts to recruit, enroll, and retain students that enhance and support the diversity of the program.
I. The counselor education program intentionally creates and effectively maintains an inclusive and equitable learning community that respects individual differences.
Entry-level admission decision recommendations are made by the counselor education program and include consideration of each applicant’s potential success in forming effective counseling relationships with diverse populations.
The student handbook, for all program delivery types, includes: diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies;
Syllabi consistent with program delivery types are available to students enrolled in the course at the beginning of each academic term and include: diversity, equity, inclusion, and accommodation statement;
The counselor education program identifies underrepresented populations and makes continuous and systematic efforts to recruit, employ, and retain faculty that enhance and support the diversity of the program.
PROGRAM MISSION: reflects counseling practice in a diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations;
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: reflect current knowledge and projected needs concerning counseling practice in a diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations;
Diverse Learning Community:
As part of identifying underrepresented populations and the continuous and systematic efforts to recruit, enroll, and retain a diverse group of students and faculty, the counselor education program analyzes, by program delivery type and CACREP specialized practice area, demographic data with regard to:
a) Students:
1) applicants,
2) enrolled students, and
3) degree completion rates.
b) Full-Time Faculty:
1) (if applicable) applicants for open faculty positions,
2) employed faculty, and
3) retention rates.
4. Fieldwork:
The program reports in aggregate the achievement of minimum thresholds for student placement rates at practicum and internship sites.
FOUNDATIONAL COUNSELING CURRICULUM
The curriculum for entry-level programs provides for obtaining essential knowledge and skills necessary to function effectively as a professional counselor across service delivery modalities.
Curriculum knowledge domains and outcome expectations are frequently interrelated and not mutually exclusive. Ethical behavior, diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical thinking are integral to counselor preparation and should be infused throughout the curriculum. Diversity refers to all aspects of intersectional and cultural identity. Counselor preparation programs address culturally sustaining content and strategies across the eight foundational curriculum areas.
Counselor education programs must document where and in what manner each of the numbered standards listed below is covered in the curriculum.
PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING ORIENTATION AND ETHICAL PRACTICE
counselors’ roles, responsibilities, and relationships as members of specialized practice and interprofessional teams, including: (b) community outreach,
4. the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of and with individuals receiving counseling services to address systemic, institutional, architectural, attitudinal, disability, and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES AND EXPERIENCES
1. theories and models of multicultural counseling, social justice, and advocacy
2. the influence of heritage, cultural identities, attitudes, values, beliefs, understandings, within-group differences, and acculturative experiences on individuals’ worldviews
3. the influence of heritage, cultural identities, attitudes, values, beliefs, understandings, within-group differences, and acculturative experiences on help-seeking and coping behaviors
4. the effects of historical events, multigenerational trauma, and current issues on diverse cultural groups in the U.S. and globally
5. the effects of stereotypes, overt and covert discrimination, racism, power, oppression, privilege, marginalization, microaggressions, and violence on counselors and clients
6. the effects of various socio-cultural influences, including public policies, social movements, and cultural values, on mental and physical health and wellness
7. disproportional effects of poverty, income disparities, and health disparities toward people with marginalized identities
8. principles of independence, inclusion, choice and self-empowerment, and access to services within and outside the counseling relationship
9. strategies for identifying and eliminating barriers, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination
10. guidelines developed by professional counseling organizations related to social justice, advocacy, and working with individuals with diverse cultural identities
11. the role of religion and spirituality in clients’ and counselors’ psychological functioning
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
11. strategies for improving access to educational and occupational opportunities for people from marginalized groups
COUNSELING PRACTICE AND RELATIONSHIPS
1. theories and models of counseling, including relevance to clients from diverse cultural backgrounds
CAREER COUNSELING
2. the unique needs and characteristics of diverse clients
3. implications of gender roles and responsibilities
COLLEGE COUNSELING AND STUDENT AFFAIRS
5. diversity of higher education environments
7. policies, programs, and services that are equitable,
SCHOOL COUNSELING
5. design and evaluation of school counseling curriculum, lesson plan development, diverse classroom management strategies,
6. school counselor roles as leaders, advocates, and systems change agents in PK-12 schools
19. strategies to promote equity in student achievement
Doctoral program admission criteria include:
professional dispositions
commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice;
DOCTORAL CURRICULUM
d) scholarly examination of culturally sustaining counseling practice
TEACHING
f) integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice principles and practices in the counselor education curriculum
l) culturally sustaining strategies for counselor education
RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
l) strategies for conducting culturally relevant and culturally competent research
LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY
h) current sociopolitical and social justice issues and how those issues affect the counseling profession
k) strategies of leadership in relation to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice issues
l) culturally sustaining leadership and advocacy practices
2024 CACREP STANDARDS GLOSSARY
Cultural identity – A person’s intersectional identities that may be defined by but are not limited to the following: age and generational status, disability status, race, ethnicity, gender/gender identity, affective/relational/sexual identity, religion and spirituality, social class, national origin, language, migration status, and veteran status.
Culturally sustaining – Inclusive practices that preserve, support, and affirm a person’s diverse heritage, values, language, and cultural identities.
Diversity – All aspects of intersectional and cultural group identity, including age and generational status, disability status, race, ethnicity, gender/gender identity, affective/relational/sexual identity, religion and spirituality, social class, national origin and language, migration status, and veteran status, among others.
Marginalized populations – Individuals or groups who were historically and/or are currently underserved or experiencing discrimination. Identification may be based on but is not limited to any of the following: age, generational status, body size, disability status, race, ethnicity, gender/gender identity, affective/relational/sexual identity, religion and spirituality, social class, national origin and language, migration status, and veteran status.
Professional Dispositions – The commitments, characteristics, values, beliefs, and behaviors that influence the counselor’s professional growth and interactions with clients, faculty, supervisors, and peers, including working in a diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations.
Student assessment – The systematic gathering of information for decision-making about individuals, groups, programs, or processes. Assessment is the measurement of an individual student’s level of dispositions.
Underrepresented – Within the context of the program’s mission, a student or faculty subset that holds a smaller percentage within the counselor education program than it does in the communities served.
The following are selections from textbooks used at universities, for the CACREP required course on Multicultural Counseling.
This is the most popular multicultural counseling textbook in the country, Counseling the Culturally Diverse 9th Edition by Derald Wing Sue. Quotes are as follows:
Chapter 1: Understanding Resistance to Multicultural Training: Obstacles to Developing Cultural Competence
Reading and digesting the content of this book may prove difficult and filled with powerful feeling for many of you. Some readers find the substance of the book difficult to absorb and have reacted very strongly to the content. According to instructors of multicultural counseling and therapy (MCT) classes, the powerful feelings aroused in some students prevent them form being open to diversity issues, and from making classroom discussion on the topic a learning opportunity. Instead, conversations on diversity become “shouting matches” or become monologues rather than dialogues. These instructors indicate that the content of the book challenges many White students about their racial, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity realities, and the books’ socio/cultural/political orientation also arouses deep feeling of defensiveness, anger, anxiety, guilt, sadness, hopelessness, and a multitude of other strong emotions.
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE COURSE
One of the more common responses from White trainees is revealed in the quote above. Reading between the lines, the White trainee seems to be implying that (a) learning about race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation is purely a cognitive or intellectual exercise, (b) emotion is antagonistic to reason, (c) “politics” should be left outside of the classroom, and (d) as a White person, he/she may be blamed for all the racial/ethnic injustices of the world. As we shall see shortly, these expectations are setting up the White student for a very challenging experience in the course.
On the other hand, students of color also approach course on race with great trepidation. Their concerns are different from that of their White counterparts.
REACTIONS TO THE COURSE
First, the reactions by the White student reveal immense anger at the content of Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice (CCD), and especially at the authors whom are labeled “hate-mongers” and “racists.” It is obvious that the student feels the book is bias and propagandistic. The language used by the student seems to indicate defensiveness and the material covered in the book is easily dismissed as political indoctrination.
Is the material in the book, biased and political rhetoric, or is the White student having his view of the world challenged? We will delve more deeply into these emotive reactions shortly, but it appears that the student feels unjustly accused of being bigoted. To feel less guilty, the student emphasizes that minorities are equally prejudiced against White Americans. Although it may be an accurate observation, it serves to make the student and other Whites less culpable by equating one form of bias with another. If the student can get other groups to admit they too are “racist,” then less guilt and responsibility for one’s own biased beliefs and actions will be experienced.
Second, note that the reaction from the student of color is diametrically opposite to that of the White trainee. This student reacts positively to the material, finds the content helpful in explaining his/her experiential reality, and feels validated and reaffirmed.
EMOTIONAL SELF-REVELATIONS AND FEARS: MAJORITY GROUP MEMBERS
Cultural competence and humility in counseling/mental health practice demands that nested or embedded emotions associated with race, culture, gender, and other social identity differences be openly experienced and discussed.
EMOTIONAL INVALIDATION VERSUS AFFIRMATION: MARGINALIZED GROUP MEMBERS
The lived experience of People of Color is generally invisible to most White Americans, as this quotation portrays. As we will discuss in Chapter 4, racial, gender, and sexual orientation microaggressions are experienced frequently by People of Color, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons in their day-to-day interactions with well-intentioned members of the dominant society.
Given the fact that the majority of People of Color have experienced microaggressions in their lifetime, covering these topics in class can serve to validate their lived realities.
A WORD OF CAUTION
There is a word of caution that needs to be directed toward students of marginalized groups as they read CCD and find it affirming and validating. In teaching the course, we have often encountered students of color who become very contentious and highly outspoken toward White classmates. A good example is provided in the reaction of the African American student
in the fourth scenario. It is clear that the student seems to take delight in seeing his White classmates “squirm” and be uncomfortable. In this respect, he may be taking out his own anger and frustration upon White classmates, and his concern has less to do with helping them understand than having them feel some of the pain and hurt he has felt over the years. It is
important to express and understand one's anger (it can be healing), but becoming verbally abusive toward another is counterproductive to building rapport and mutual respect. As People of Color, for example, we must realize that our enemies are not White Americans, but White supremacy! Moreover, by extension, our enemy is not White Western society, but racism and ethnocentrism.
COGNITIVE RESISTANCE-DENIAL
The fact that the student chose not to voice his or her thoughts is actually an impediment to learning and understanding. In many classrooms, teachers have noted how silence is used by some White students to mask or conceal their true thoughts and feelings about multicultural issues.
Denial through disbelief, unwillingness to consider alternative scenarios, distortion, fabrication, and rationalizations are all mechanisms frequently used by some trainees during racial conversations to prevent them from thinking about or discussing topics of race and racism in an honest manner.
In our teaching in multicultural classes, we have observed many types of denials that work against honest diversity discussions. There are denials that students are prejudiced, that racism still exists, that they are responsible for the oppression of others, that White American occupy an advantaged and privileged position, that they hold power over People of Color, and even
denial that they are White. This latter point (Whiteness and White privilege) is an especially “hot topic” that will be thoroughly discussed in Chapter 7.
CHAPTER 7: White Racial Consciousness: Implications for Counseling and Psychotherapy
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Acquire an understanding of what it means to be White. Be able to discern differences between how Whites and People of Color experience “Whiteness.”
2. Understand how Whiteness advantages White European American individuals and disadvantages People of Color.
3. Describe and discuss the various conceptualizations of White racial identity development.
4. Learn how levels of White racial consciousness may affect the counseling process.
5. Learn what a White person can do in order to develop a nonracist and antiracist White identity.
6. Learn what White helping professionals can do in order to prevent their Whiteness from negatively impacting clients of color.
These are selections from the textbook Developing Multicultural Counseling Competence by Danica G. Hayes and Bradley T. Erford. Quotes from both the 3rd and 4th editions are as follows:
PREFACE – 4th Edition
We define culture in terms of the intersections among our race, ethnicity, nationality, geographic origin, gender, sexual and affectional orientation, education level, family values, language, immigration history, social class, socioeconomic level, ability status, and spirituality, to name only a few ways. At times culture may be visible: our race or gender might be quite apparent to others. However, culture is not always visible; it may be a shared history of kinship, community practices and norms, discrimination, historical and political power, or resilience.
Many concepts are related to the process of developing multicultural counseling competence: self-awareness; sensitivity to diversity, equity, and inclusion; knowledge of cultural values; and social advocacy. The core of developing multicultural counseling competence is possessing awareness, knowledge, and skills related to each of these concepts.
Social advocacy starts when we connect our personal growth and initiative to change the status quo for those unjustly affected within various social systems by forms of oppression such as structural racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, ableism, and ageism.
Specifically, Section Two opens with a discussion of social justice counseling, the fifth force of counseling (Chapter 3, Gnilka et al.) and continues with a focus on racism, White supremacy, and White privilege.
Discourse for each newly presented form of privilege and oppression integrates that of previous chapters so the reader can better understand how clients may have unique combinations of privileged and oppressed statuses.
Black culture and values that characterize families, couples, children, Black middleclass individuals, males and females, elderly people, and Black LGBTQ+ individuals. Common mental health issues and support systems are presented, and an Afrocentric psychological perspective and Black psychology are described.
NEW TO THIS EDITION
• New focus on White supremacy: Beginning with Chapter 4 and continuing throughout the text, we address directly the role of White supremacy on the communities examined. By identifying the effects of a legacy of White supremacy, the text will enable students to see its continued impact on day-to-day life and use an appropriate framework to address it within their practice and throughout their careers.
• Chapter 4: In this chapter, White supremacy and its link to White privilege are introduced. Additional new terms are also included in this chapter, such as anti-racism and ally. Furthermore, we discuss the role of White supremacy and racism in immigration today and update the historical timeline of combatting racism for people of color.
• Chapter 14: Information regarding White supremacy and its development and sustainment among individuals and families of European and European American descent is new to this edition. Additional discussion of multicultural and social justice counseling strategies with White clients is also provided.
________________________________
Chapter 1: The Culturally Competent Counselor –3rd Edition
Gender – Whereas sex refers to the biological distinctions between males and females (e.g., hormonal and anatomical differences), gender is the expression of social categories, or gender roles, that describe behaviors deemed appropriate by a particular culture for males and females. Three terms are useful in thinking about gender and gender role expression: masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. Masculinity and femininity are the normative expressions of stereotypical and socially accepted behaviors for males and females, respectively. Androgyny is the blending of masculinity and femininity. Further categories, such as intersex and transgender, demonstrate the complexity of gender and gender norms.
Privilege vs. Oppression – Privilege refers to the often unconscious and unearned power, access to resources, advantage, and social position based on cultural group memberships. Privileged cultural groups in U.S. society typically include Whites, males, heterosexuals, those with a higher socioeconomic status, the able bodied, and Christians. Because certain individuals have privilege, others within various cultural groups experience oppression: lack of power, inaccessibility of resources, disadvantage, and minority social status. Oppressed cultural groups include racial and ethnic minority groups, females, sexual minorities, the less able bodied, those of lower socioeconomic status, and religious minorities.
Social Advocacy and Social Justice – Social advocacy refers to the promotion of an idea, policy, or cause that betters the lives of those who experience oppression. Social justice is the realization of a just and equitable world for all individuals.
Counselors and counselor trainees have varying levels of awareness of the role that cultural privilege and oppression play in both the counseling relationship and clients’ daily lives.
DEVELOPING A MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCE
According to the MSJCC, the counseling relationship is assumed to occur within a context of counselors and clients with varying degrees of privilege and oppression experiences. These differential levels of power within the counselor–client relationship are important to consider as counselors build their competency for working with culturally diverse populations.
Resistance to the multicultural movement in the field of counseling is still present today.
Helms’s White Identity Model Helms’s (1995) White identity model is composed of six ego statuses that describe how Whites interpret and respond to racial cues.
Chapter 4: Racism and White Privilege
Cultural racism involves the belief that the cultural values and practices of individuals of White, European descent are superior to those of other racial groups. Self-devaluation and the lionization of White American culture as normal are consequences of cultural racism. The values associated with institutional/structural racism, internalized racism, and cultural racism may also be evident in things such as art, economics, religion, and language.
Peggy McIntosh (1988) wrote the classic and highly cited work on White privilege wherein she described 46 conditions of unearned advantages of having White skin color. These advantages include individual experiences (e.g., favorable situations in stores and job interviews, and not experiencing discrimination in daily living), institutional advantages (e.g., a positive portrayal in the media, adequate housing, and educational opportunities), access to things representative of culture, and the ability to avoid or ignore cultural contributions of other racial/ethnic groups.
Having racial privilege is like having an “invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks” (McIntosh, 1988, p. 77). Racial privilege embraces unearned advantages based on being constructed as White. Many of these advantages are derived from a history of Whites implementing individual, institutional, and cultural racism, dating back to when Columbus “discovered” America. Because race may be invisible to Whites, it is imperative to reflect on one’s early memories of being a member of a particular racial group or racial groups. Consider the questions in Reflection 4.4, and then read “Early Memories of Whiteness and White Privilege,” provided in Table 4.2.
Additional characteristics of White privilege include the following:
• White privilege is often invisible to Whites.
• White privilege contains psychological and intellectual costs to Whites.
• There are several myths Whites hold that can perpetuate White privilege.
• White privilege differentially benefits Whites.
• Individuals who do not identify as White may have some degree of White privilege.
_____________________________
Chapter 4 –Racism and White Supremacy 4th Edition
Racism and the associated White supremacy framework is one of the prominent social justice issues in the counseling profession today. In this chapter, we define racism, White supremacy, and White privilege and provide examples of how they have been perpetuated throughout history and continue to pervade society, affecting health in general and mental health specifically. Costs for both people of color and White people are discussed, and strategies for eradicating racism are provided. We have chosen to use the term White supremacy to identify the broader power framework by which White people and those that approximate White benefit (i.e., White privilege). While White privilege is a prominent byproduct that is sustained within this framework, White supremacy involves the broader existence of historical and contemporary acts of racism within legal, cultural, social, economic, health, and other systems. White people support at varying degrees White supremacy that protects White privilege; thus, components sustaining White supremacy can include inaction to address racism to racial microaggressions to more overt displays such as White nationalism.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
4.3 Define and provide examples of White supremacy.
4.4 Discuss White privilege in the U.S. context.
4.5 Compare psychological responses to racism and White privilege.
4.6 Develop a clear understanding of the cognitive, affective, interpersonal, and physical costs of racism for White people.
4.7 Identify current research trends and gaps related to racism, White supremacy, and White privilege.
RACE AND RACISM
Being exposed to, reflecting on, and discussing racism and White supremacy is a challenging task. For White people, reading about these concepts and ways in which they manifest in U.S. society can incite confusion, anger, guilt, frustration, and sadness, perhaps all at the same time. Because of these emotions, it may be tempting to forgo learning more about racism and White supremacy or take some personal ownership for perpetuating it. For people of color, these topics can reopen old wounds and create new ones, stimulating emotions similar to those of White people but for distinct reasons. We encourage you to be open to the material in this chapter; it will challenge you in different ways and, depending on other aspects of your cultural identity, it will resonate with you in diverse ways. Thus, this material may be difficult to integrate into your worldview. As you read the material in the chapter, we hope that you will consider how the concepts presented arise and appear in your everyday life and whether you find examples of racism and White privilege in yourself, in your family and peers, within the media, or in government policies, educational institutions, the workplace, and so on. We also hope that you will consider how you may be intentionally or unintentionally perpetuating the status quo through your actions and inactions.
Sue (2016) described fears expressed by White students and faculty during conversations of race, racism, and White privilege—conversations referred to as “race talk.” Among such fears are the fear of appearing racist, realizing one’s racism, confronting White privilege, and taking responsibility to end racism. Chung et al. (2018) noted that distrust, defensiveness, and other forms of resistance are also common among counselor and psychology trainees during in-depth race-related conversations. We hope that White students reflect on such fears and how these fears may manifest in the counseling relationship. For students of color who are training to become counselors, we hope that understanding these fears can in some way help put into context some of the potential challenges they may face with peers and White clients in the future. To extend your knowledge, Table 4.4, presented at the end of the chapter, provides numerous resources to help you achieve a better understanding of White supremacy and how to address racism. Individuals are routinely asked to identify their race on school and employment applications,
These are selections from the textbook Comprehensive Multicultural Education: Theory and Practice 9th Edition by Christine L. Bennett. This textbook was written for a similar multicultural class designed for teachers in training. The language reflects an orientation toward teachers. Quotes are as follows:
PREFACE
In addition to developing a strong sense of self, including ethnic, national, and religious or
spiritual identities, our children and youth need to gain the ability to view people and events from multiple perspectives and to recognize hidden societal structures of oppression as a foundation for action as young adults. To some readers this may sound overly optimistic or unrealistic, given the many demands.
NEW TO THIS EDITION
■■ Revised Chapter: Chapter 10: “The Promise of Culturally Competent Teaching”.
■■ New Chapter: Chapter 11: “How Does Gender Make a Difference?”.
■■ Inclusion of John Ogbu’s work on “voluntary immigrants” and “caste-like minorities”.
■■ Expanded discussion of colonialism, Indigenous Peoples, and Latinos in the Southwest.
■■ Updated content on indicators of the nation’s racial climate, and an expanded
discussion of White privilege, anti-racism, talking about racism, and teaching for social justice.
GOALS AND RATIONALE
The book deals with questions students continually ask that too often are left hanging. Doesn’t multicultural education lead to lower academic standards? Won’t cultural pluralism lead to the Balkanization of our society? Aren’t we really stereotyping when we talk about cultural differences? Isn’t it racist? Are you saying I can’t set up my own standards for acceptable behavior in my classroom? How can I add multicultural content when I don’t have time to cover the basic curriculum? What does multicultural education have to do with math and science or with physical education? Doesn’t multicultural education really boil down to indoctrination?
My approach to multicultural education focuses on ethnic diversity and community in the United States, diversity rooted in racial, cultural, and individual differences; it also emphasizes basic human similarities and global connections; and it addresses the structural barriers (often hidden) in schools and society that keep racial injustice and oppression alive.
Teachers and administrators who are uninformed about cultural diversity, whose knowledge of history and current events is monocultural in scope, and who are unaware of institutional racism and/or their own prejudices are likely to hinder the academic success and personal development of many students, however unintentional this may be.
OVERVIEW OF TEXT CONTENT
Chapter 15, “Curriculum Transformation: A Multicultural Curriculum Development Model for Teacher Decision Making,” provides a foundation for students to create a transformative multicultural curriculum while addressing school mission statements, social justice standards, and content standards in their respective subject areas and/or grade levels. The curriculum model provides goals, core values, and decision-making guidelines to help students implement social justice practices and a transformative multicultural curriculum in their future teaching.
Chapter 1 – Multicultural Schools – What? Why? And How?
PRINCIPLES
Multicultural education rests upon four broad principles: (1) the theory of cultural pluralism; (2) the ideals of social justice which would bring an end to racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression; (3) affirmations of culture in the teaching and learning process; and, (4) visions of educational equity and excellence leading to high levels of academic learning and personal development for all children and youth.
CULTURAL PLURALISM
The ideal of cultural pluralism is a foundational principle of multicultural education in the United States. Developed early in the twentieth century by democratic philosopher Horace Kallen at the time of the “great deluge” of immigrants from Europe, the concept of cultural pluralism affirms the right of each ethnic group to retain its own heritage as the newcomers become acculturated and are integrated into society.2 It envisions a society based upon democratic values of equity, fairness, and social justice; respect for human dignity and universal human rights; and the freedom to maintain one’s language and culture, provided the human dignity and rights of others are not violated.
Although ethnic minorities may be expected to compromise in some areas in order to maintain societal harmony and national identity, implicit are the assumptions that every child’s home culture must be affirmed and respected and opportunities must be provided for all children to reach their fullest potential.
ANTIRACISM
A second foundational principle of multicultural education is antiracism and the elimination of structural inequities related to identity groups beyond ethnic groups, such as race, class, and gender. In particular, the redress of racial inequities in a society built upon and maintained by White privilege is a primary focus of multicultural education, especially societal structures rooted in deep-seated structural injustices and systematic patterns of dominance and suppression that denied people of color economic and political equality. The end of institutional and cultural racism is at the heart of multicultural education, even when conceptions of diversity are expanded to include gender, class, disabilities, and sexual preference.
DIMENSION 4 – SOCIAL JUSTICE
Social justice envisions teachers who are concerned about (and encourage student inquiry about) inequitable social structures; images of race, culture, class, and gender in popular culture; and social action to bring about greater societal equity, both locally and globally. Teaching toward social justice affirms the commitment to combat racism, sexism, and classism (as well as other prejudices and forms of discrimination that degrade an individual’s basic human rights and dignity) through the development of appropriate understandings, attitudes, and social action skills.
THE CORE VALUES IN MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
Multicultural education has ideological overtones based on democratic ideals that are lacking in less controversial content areas of the curriculum.
In multicultural education, however, where there are no hard and fast rules about content standards, there is disagreement about not only what the curriculum entails, but also whether it should exist at all. Four core values provide a philosophical framework for the multicultural curriculum
model described briefly at the end of this chapter and developed more fully in Chapter 15:11
1. acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity,
2. respect for human dignity and universal human rights,
3. responsibility to the world community, and
4. honor and protection of our planet.
These core values are ideals that are yet to become a reality, or even widely accepted, as seen in controversies over environmental issues, national and global inequities.
A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS POSITIVE INTERRACIAL CONTACT
For example, many White teachers and students are unknowingly ignorant about the structures and meanings of Ebonics, African American vernacular. The double negative “ain’t got no” may signify a “low-class,” uneducated person, while use of the term “nigger” among Blacks may be viewed by Whites as insulting or threatening. Black students, on the other hand, might regard all Whites as racist and interpret the behaviors of White teachers and classmates from that perspective.
Chapter 2: Culture, Race, and the Contexts for Multicultural Teaching
DIFFERING WORLDVIEWS
The Black and White students experienced little interracial contact outside of school. Two different musical groups, one Black and one White, had been hired to perform at the assembly. When the Black musicians began to perform, Blacks in the audience responded by clapping, stomping, singing, and dancing. The Black performers kept cool, interacted with the Black audience, and were clearly enjoying it. A group of White students became very upset, demanded quiet, and finally walked out. Black students, in turn, felt the Whites were being purposefully rude and unresponsive to the Black performers. Later that evening, several interracial fights broke out on campus.
The Anglo-European tradition places a virtuoso performer on a pedestal. The audience is but a passive recipient, and appreciation is expressed with applause at acceptable times only. For many Black Americans, however, the essence of the performance is an active interchange between performer and audience. Great performers, including public speakers and ministers, are those who keep their “cool” while getting their audience “hot.”11 Many Blacks and Whites have, of course, learned to appreciate and enjoy each other’s music and performance traditions.
Chapter 3: Race Relation and the Nature of Prejudice
CULTURAL RACISM
Cultural racism includes both individual and institutional expressions of racial superiority and suppression. It refers to the subtle and pervasive uses of power by Whites “to perpetuate their cultural heritage and impose it upon others, while at the same time destroying the culture of ethnic minorities.”13 Cultural racism combines ethnocentrism—the view that other cultures are inferior to the Anglo-European—and the power to suppress or eradicate manifestations of non-Anglo-
European cultures. The legacy of cultural racism can be found in the Eurocentric formal curriculum—in tests, media, and course offerings. It can also be detected in the hidden, informal curriculum, as in low expectations for minority-student achievement held by nonminority teachers, ethnic/racial myths and stereotypes held by students and teachers, and an unfamiliar, non supportive, unfriendly, or hostile school environment. Cultural racism within the United States is the belief in the inferiority of the implements, handicrafts, agriculture, economics, music, art, religious beliefs, traditions, language, and story of non-Anglo-European peoples and the belief that these people have no distinctive culture apart from that of mainstream White America.14
These are selections from Cultural Diversity – A Primer for the Human Services 5th Edition by Jerry Diller. Quotes are as follows:
Chapter 4 – Understanding Racism, Prejudice, and White Privilege
Racism is a broad and all-pervasive social phenomenon that is mutually reinforced at all levels of society. In this regard, J. M. Jones (1972) distinguishes three levels of racism: individual, institutional, and cultural…. Institutional racism involves the manipulation of societal institutions to give preferences and advantages to Whites and at the same time restrict the choices, rights, mobility, and access of people of color. While individual racism resides within the person, the institutional variety is wired into the very fabric of social institutions: into their rules, practices, and procedures. Some forms of institutional racism are subtle and hidden; others are overt and obvious. All however serve to deny and limit access to those who are culturally diverse. Cultural racism is the belief that the cultural ways of one group are superior to those of another. In the United States, it takes the form of practices that “attribute value and normality to White people and Whiteness, and devalue, stereotype, and label People of Color as ‘other,’ different, less than, or render them invisible”. Cultural racism can be found both in individuals and in institutions. In the former, it is often referred to as ethnocentrism. Each level of racism supports and reinforces the others, and together they contribute to its general resistance to change. Later sections of this chapter explore the working of each in depth, as well as inquire into the relevance of each for providers working with culturally diverse clients.
RACIAL CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG WHITES
White Privilege
Most insidious is that to most Whites, it is all but invisible. For them, it is so basic a part of daily experience and existence and so available to everyone in their “world” that it is never acknowledged or even given a second thought. Or at last it seems that way.
If one digs a little deeper, however, there is a strong element of defensiveness and denial. Whites tend to see themselves as individuals, just “regular people,” part of the human race but not members of a particular racial group. They are in fact, shocked when others relate to them racially (i.e., as “White”).
It is also easier to deny one’s White racial heritage and see oneself as colorless than to allow oneself to experience the full brunt of what has been done to people of color in this country in the name of White superiority. Such awareness demands some kind of personal responsibility. If I am White and truly understand what White privilege means socially, economically, and politically, then I cannot help but bear some of the guilt for what has happened historically and what continues to occur. If I were to truly “get it,” then I would have no choice but to give up my complacency, try to do something about rectifying racial disparity, and ultimately find myself with the same kind of discomfort and feeling as the men in my class did. No one gives up power and privilege without a struggle.
At a broader level, White privilege is infused into the very fabric of American society, and even if they wish to do so, Whites cannot really give it up.
WHITE RACIAL ATTITUDE TYPES
Rowe, Behrens, and Leach (1995) offer a framework for understanding how White European Americans think about race and racial differences. Their research has generated seven attitude structures or types that Whites can adopt vis-à-vis race and people of color.
A MODEL OF WHITE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Helms (1995) offers a somewhat different approach to understanding how Whites experience and relate to race in the United States through her model of White racial identity development.
Whites at this level of awareness have developed a defense that Helms calls "obliviousness" to keep the issue of race out of consciousness.
BECOMING A CULTURAL ALLY
Acknowledges the privilege that he or she receives as a member of the culturally dominant group
Listens and believes the experiences of marginalized group members without diminishing, dismissing, normalizing, or making their experience invisible
Is willing to take risks, try new behaviors, and act in spite of his or her own fear and resistance from other agents
Is humble and does not act as an expert in the marginalized group culture
Is willing to be confronted about his or her own behavior and attitudes and consider change
Takes a stand against oppression even when no marginalized-group person is present
Believes that he or she can make a difference by acting and speaking out against social injustice
Knows how to cultivate support from other allies
Works to understand his or her own privilege and does not burden the marginalized group to provide continual education
These are selected screen shots from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s Program Handbook which is available for download. These sections show how students are evaluated for belief in Social Justice Values and concepts originating from Critical Race Theory and other Critical Social Justice theories.
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About
Diogenes in Exile began after I returned to grad school to pursue a Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s degree at the University of Tennessee. What I encountered, however, was a program deeply entrenched in Critical Theories ideology. During my time there, I experienced significant resistance, particularly for my Buddhist practice, which was labeled as invalidating to other identities. After careful reflection, I chose to leave the program, believing the curriculum being taught would ultimately harm clients and lead to unethical practices in the field.
Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to investigating, writing, and speaking out about the troubling direction of psychology, higher education, and other institutions that seem to have lost their way. When I’m not working on these issues, you’ll find me in the garden, creating art, walking my dog, or guiding my kids toward adulthood.
You can also find my work at Minding the Campus
This is incredible work and right up what I have been thinking about ....how to completely shift the accrediting structure and create alternative bodies. Can we chat? I am also creating a therapist directory for non ideological neutrality based therapy. Think psychology today but without the capture! Simplytherapists.org will be launched soon!
Well thanks. I have been digging into the history, standards and other details for the last year. I’m a little salty that I won’t get a PhD for it, but I’ll settle for seeing some real change. And for the record, I only sent out my letter on Monday and I have already heard back from my lawmakers with proposed legislation that could address this situation. So I hope most of all that you make use of it.
But yes we can chat. Give me a minute (a big minute) to organize myself. I have a lot of plates spinning atm.
In the meantime you might be interested in the other groups that have organized to provide ideology free therapy. I wrote about them here:
https://www.diogenesinexile.com/p/how-to-find-mental-health-care-in