Socialworkersspeaks on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterRSS Feed

Did Dorothy Height News Downplay Social Work?

Photo of Dorothy Height by Michael Collopy.

National Association of Social Workers member Lorette Lavine, MSW, sent an email to SocialWorkersSpeak.org about news coverage of the death of social work and civil rights icon Dorothy I. Height.

Lavine said some articles she read cited Height’s professional beginning in social work but failed to connect Height’s social work background to her lifelong push for equal treatment and better conditions for minorities, women and the poor. Lavine wrote:

“It seems that in general it is not acknowledged that social action was the initial role of the social worker and that probably was (Height’s) primary focus. Social work has such a narrow definition in many news articles.
In the Chicago Tribune obituary
(click here to read it) it does not even mention that Dorothy was a social worker!”

Q: Could the media have done a better job of relating Dorothy Height’s connection to social work?

|   Leave A Comment
Tagged as: , , , ,

Advertisement

3 Comments

  1. I agree they could have done a much better job highlighting Ms. Height as a social worker. I was only able to devise that she was a social worker by the schools she attended.

  2. Whenever the media and the profession of social work mix there is always a downplay and/or a negative connatation associated with the social work profession. We, as social worker, fight against these negative views that the media portrays with slim success. To recognize the profession of the late Dr. Dorothy Height would have given social work a more just image. Despite the lack of recognition, she will have a place in the history of social reform and in social work history.

  3. What a terrible shame and yet, no surprising. Somehow the media does not think that being a Social Worker, advocate for human rights, etc. is not noteworthy enough to mention in a true pioneer’s obituary. Very sad, indeed. Thanks goodness that “our” community knows enough about this amazing woman to pay her due respects and tribute to the groundbreaking work that she did!

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.