INTERACTING OPPRESSIONS - TEACHING SOCIAL-WORK CONTENT ON WOMEN OF COLOR

Women of color stand at a critical juncture, subject to the interactio ns of racism and sexism in every arena of their lives. Yet, social wor k educators most often present issues of race and gender separately, d rawing upon two distinct bodies of literature. The author reviews the existing literature on women of color, focusing on five dominant theme s that address interactions among race, gender, and other factors in t he lives of women of color. Several curriculum models are described th at offer approaches to teaching material on women of color to social w orkers. She then suggests the use of the case example as an effective method for conveying this material. A specific case example, African A merican mothers of disabled children, is used to address each of the f ive themes presented in the literature review. Specific pedagogical te chniques are suggested for using the case example approach and the fiv e themes in class.