Young Social Workers Should Be Preparing for the Future
by Charles E. Lewis, Jr., Ph.D., MSW
To paraphrase a quote attributed to one Mike Klepper, if you don’t make your future, it will be made for you. Faced with a choice of two undesirable candidates representing the nation’s two major political parties—the Democrats and the Republicans—many millennials, including young social workers, opted to stay home and forfeit their votes or they decided to cast a vote for a third-party candidate. For many young voters, businessman Donald Trump was over the top with his racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic appeals to disgruntled middle-class voters who felt they were being left behind. Yet, former Secretary Hillary Clinton represented an establishment class they also disdained. For many, Green Party candidate Jill Stein leaned more to the ideals that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders promoted during the Democratic primary—ideas and ideals that resonated with young voters.
Fast forward. President Donald J. Trump is now residing in the White House as the presumptive leader of the free world. If his first weeks in office are any indication of what the next four years are to be, we are in for a tumultuous ride. Coupled with a Republican-controlled Congress, he is positioned to remake America’s future starting by eliminating the Affordable Care Act, which could leave millions of Americans without healthcare; defunding Planned Parenthood, which would eliminate vital health services for millions of women; block granting Medicaid, which would significantly reduce funding to provide healthcare for the poor and long-term care for the indigent elderly; and placing further restrictions on voting that would disproportionately affect people of color and young voters. These are just a few regressive policies in the works.
When I speak to social work students, I ask how many are thinking about how life will be 30 or 40 years into the future. Young social workers need to be considering the future, because what you do or don’t do now could have an impact on society in the future. If you do not fight for policies to protect Social Security and Medicare, then you will face a future where poverty will skyrocket among the elderly, much like it was before these policies were put into place. If you are not insisting now for stronger collective bargaining, then you will still be fighting for decent pay in the future. What you do now matters.
Young social workers can be the leaders who could motivate and mobilize a generation of young voters to become more civically engaged; more educated about the policies, laws, and regulations that affect their lives; and more willing to be involved in local, state, and federal politics. Young social workers have the skills and knowledge needed to organize campuses and communities across America and to be the difference makers in the coming elections and the future of America.
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr. is President of the Board of Directors of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy. He served as deputy chief of staff and communications director for former Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns and was the staff coordinator for the Congressional Social Work Caucus. He was a full-time faculty member at Howard University School of Social Work prior to joining Rep. Towns’ staff and now is an adjunct associate professor. As staff coordinator for the Social Work Caucus, Dr. Lewis helped to plan and to coordinate numerous briefings and events on the Hill and in the 10th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York.