February is Black History Month, a time meant to honor achievements made by Black Americans throughout history. One person deserving such honor is Dr. Joseph White, the so-called “godfather” of Black Psychology.
In 1970, two years after co-founding the Association of Black Psychologists and the first Black Studies program, Dr. White wrote “Toward a Black Psychology”, an incredibly important article in the conceptualization of Black Psychology. In the article, Dr. White argues the importance of Black Psychology:
“It is very difficult, if not impossible, to understand the life styles of black people using traditional theories developed by white psychologists to explain white people. Moreover, when these additional theories are applied to the lives of black folks many incorrect, weakness-dominated and inferiority oriented conclusions come about. “
Truthfully, it is scary how relevant the article is today. Though the mental health field as a whole has made significant, if long-delayed, strides towards repairing the harm done towards people of color (including a formal apology by the American Psychiatric Association in 2021 for “its support of structural racism in psychiatry”) a lot of work is yet to be done. Despite Black Americans making up 13.7% of the U.S. population, only 4% of therapists hold the same identity.
Dr. White encouraged psychologists and other mental health professionals to approach their black clients from a strengths-based lens, rather than assuming theories true of white clients are universally correct. He described a particular strength as the following:
“They may not be able to verbalize it but they have already mastered what existential psychologists state to be the basic human condition; namely that in this life, pain and struggle are unavoidable and that a complete sense of one's identity can only be achieved by both recognizing and directly confronting an unkind and alien existence.”
It is important to have racial representation in all areas of life, but especially in helping professions. We hope the field of psychology continues its journey towards racial equity.
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