Dani Mason: Reflections on Social Work Practice with Communities

  “I like to call people by the wrong name to remind them how unimportant they are''. A line uttered by the stone-faced and snarky character, Ron Swanson on the TV comedy Parks and Rec. Although comical in context to the show, this line, and Burghadt’s vignette of the chief of staff versus the moderator in their power struggle/ implicit bias over the simplicity of mispronouncing a name, reminds me of how much I see this happen to my cultural client’s almost weekly. What’s in a name? A lot. An identity to someone who has come to the USA with virtually nothing left that is theirs. For an already marginalized population, let's make them feel worse by not taking the time to pronounce a name or recognize someone as they are. The same can be said for individuals that are referred to as, “those people'' or “them”. It is painful to hear providers, regardless of how long they have worked with someone, continuously call clients/ patients by the wrong name, mistake them for so...

  I'm not going to lie economics is not my strong suit, numbers do not like me, and I am not an economist. Therefore, I will admit that the reading this week was a little more challenging for me to digest than it may have been for others. After slugging through the chapters, I wanted to ensure I understand the concepts and prime takeaways from what I have read. I turned to other MMT articles online and youtube videos to make sure something stuck and made basic sense. Within the first few pages of The Deficit Myth , it is stated that my belief of how the economy works and how money works will be challenged and turned upside down. It is safe to say that this is a true statement. I have spent my whole life hearing that debt is a bad thing and that my taxes go towards paying for everyone else's stuff.  Some common phrases I've heard include: "Why should my taxpayer dollars pay for those in prison," as well as, "My tax dollars are paying for those on welfare to be...