A personal essay: The costs of being an antiracist school counselor

Although this chapter is about the personal costs of being an antiracist school counselor, the author begins with a personal account of his work as a school counselor to show the professional school counselors reading this that the cost of not having an antiracist school counseling program is much higher than the personal costs of being an antiracist school counselor. The chapter focuses on the personal costs of engaging in antiracist practices. Counselor educators research and document what needs to be done on behalf of our Black students but fail to engage in conversations about the personal costs of this work-both professionally and personally. The chapter provides an overview of antiracism as it is used in different fields and then discussing the need for antiracism pedagogy in school counseling. It ends with a discussion of the personal and professional costs of taking on an antiracist agenda as shared by three professional school counselors.