Clark Atlanta University Professors Pen Policy Chapter in a Newly Released Book on Social Work

09/18/2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Paula Owens, Communications Manager
4048808521 powens@cau.edu

Clark Atlanta University Professors Dr. Jenny Jones and Dr. Eyitayo Onifade recently penned “Policy, Practice, and Institutional Barriers to Financial Capability and Asset Building Related to Race in the United States,” a chapter within the newly released Social Work and the Grand Challenge of Ending Racism book. The chapter shares evidence and insights from research collaborations to overcome the barriers of structural racism and financial exclusion through financial capability and asset building (FCAB).

“Race, although a social construct, is real in its consequence and effect on our daily lives.  We explored the history of race-making and, in turn, its by-product, racism, in creating our current economic hierarchy,” said Jones, Dean, and Professor of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work. “Race is embedded within the makings of our society and requires deliberate efforts in economic policy to address racial injustice and financial disparity between racial groups. This volume details efforts at building up the financial capabilities of racial minorities and other marginalized groups.”

Attitudes toward race profoundly shape access to opportunities and how society responds to people with financial challenges. As U.S. policymakers research empirically grounded policy measures to address economic inequality and structural racism, Jones, Onifade, and other collaborators detailed evidence-based options for financial inclusion.

According to Eyitayo Onifade, Ph.D., “As race-conscious initiatives re-emerge as avenues for policy change, distinguishing between racism and race as a social problem is a starting point in our discourse regarding asset building and financial capabilities in marginalized communities. Race neutrality or race blindness diminishes a core strength of the United States, which is its diversity. We provided concrete interventions in asset welfare concerning racism in recognition of the value of promoting diversity and inclusiveness in economic governance.

Oxford University Press published the book in June 2023. Click here to read an online version of Jones’ and Onifade’s chapter.

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About Financial Capability and Asset Building (FCAB) Initiative

The Financial Capability and Asset Building Initiative at the Center for Social Development, Washington University, St. Louis, is a collaborative effort to broaden financial knowledge, access to appropriate and beneficial financial services, and policy structures that support financial inclusion. The initiative also works to build professional capacity in financial social work.

About Clark Atlanta University

Clark Atlanta University was formed with the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, both of which hold unique places in the annals of African American history. Atlanta University, established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, was the nation’s first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans. Clark College, established four years later in 1869, was the nation’s first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African American student population. Today, with nearly 4,000 students, CAU is the largest of the four institutions (CAU, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morehouse School of Medicine) that comprise the Atlanta University Center Consortium. It is also the largest of the 37-member UNCF institutions. Notable alumni include: James Weldon Johnson, American civil rights activist, poet, and songwriter (Lift Every Voice and Sing, “The Black National Anthem”; Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., American civil rights activist; Congressman Hank

Johnson, Georgia District 4; Kenya Barris, American award-winning television and movie producer; Kenny Leon, Tony Award-winning Broadway Director; Jacque Reid, Emmy Award-winning Television Personality and Journalist; Brandon Thompson, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for NASCAR; Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Recording Academy. To learn more about Clark Atlanta University, visit www.cau.edu.

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