CSWE Statement on the Chauvin Trial

Today's verdict of guilty on all charges in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd and the televised trial over the last number of days brings up so many emotions—even if it was the verdict for which you were hoping. I hope that you are able to take a few moments to process this verdict and your own reactions to it and create spaces for other to do the same.

In the 11 months since George Floyd died, the topics of police brutality and social justice have been front and center for many of us as well as our programs, colleges, and communities. Rightly so. If you would like to connect with social workers and educators to talk about today’s verdict and the months (and years) of trying to address racism, CSWE offers a free platform, CSWE Spark, for you to connect and discuss social justice among other topics and share resources to advance this discussion in the classroom.

We have the ability to change our curricula and our programs, and this is a powerful way to dismantle racism in our own “backyard.” I want to again thank the members of the CSWE Task Force to Advance Anti-Racism in Social Work Education for helping us identify things that need to change and ways to make those changes happen. These volunteers have spent the past several months organizing and condensing more than 150 distinct recommendations into clear guidance for social work education to become actively anti-racist. We anticipate that their initial action plan will be finalized and released in the coming weeks.

CSWE again wishes to express its deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and friends of George Floyd. His murder, in combination with too many other African Americans in the past year alone, has continued to demonstrate the need to address enduring racism in this country and its deadly effects.

Please let us know if there is any way for CSWE to further support you.