Psychopathology of Racism

Dr. Walter V. Collier

Oak Bluffs, MA
May 20, 2017

Professor of Psychiatry, Alvin Poussaint, of Harvard Medical School, Professor Carl C. Bell
of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Psychologist, Edward Dunbar, of the University
of California at Los Angles among others have been calling for the designation of racial big-
otry as a mental disorder.1 But other voices, including heads of the American Psychiatric
Association (APA), have argued against it, claiming that the problem of racism is socio-cul-
tural, not medical. In effect, mainstream American psychiatry is saying, “Racism is not our
job.” But, of course it is. An individual who obsessively and aggressively hates another, with
whom he may not even have a relationship, simply because of his skin color is manifesting
serious difficulty in adjusting to the world in which diversity among peoples is normal. Then
there are those who say that to categorize racism as a mental disorder would give racists an
excuse for their behavior and relieve them of the responsibility to change. If this were true
for racists, then it would be true in the case of all other mental disorders, except possibly
those seriously detached from reality. Does the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive neurosis,
bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, or substance addiction inhibit motivation in
the suffering individual to change? Or, does it relieve him or her from the responsibility for
participating in the process of changing? I don’t think so. Further, if this argument held any
water, it would undermine any hope of therapeutic success by the mere fact that the problem
was labelled and diagnosed as a problem. Then there are those who argue that psychiatry
has no treatment for racism. Well, initially it had no treatment for many if not all mental dis-
orders until psychiatry diagnosed, re-diagnosed, conducted clinical research, tried different
clinical approaches for the disorders, evaluated alternative treatments and refined these
treatments over time. Equally important is that psychiatrists who would admit that racism
entails at least some illness and argue prematurely that there is no treatment for racism are
violating the very Hippocratic Oath which they swore to uphold, viz., “I will apply, for the
benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreat-
ment and therapeutic nihilism.”2 Therapeutic nihilism says that curing people or societies
of their ills by treatment is impossible. Such a view is not based on science, but personal
subjectivity. Regrettably, many contemporary physicians have come to view the Hippocratic
Oath as merely a pro forma ritual rather than a morally or legally binding covenant.
1
Then there are some who are against calling racial bigotry a mental disorder to begin with
and argue that because there are so many racists in America, the behavior has become nor-
mative. Therefore, how could clinicians possibly treat it? This argument assumes that large
segments of or a whole society either can’t be sick or nothing can be done about it. If an in-
dividual can be mentally ill and groups of people can be mentally ill, how does it follow log-
ically that a society cannot be mentally ill? During the Nazi reign in Germany, for instance,
it would not be unreasonable to say that the non-Jewish German society at large engaged
directly or indirectly, albeit under pressure for some, in discriminating against, torturing
and destroying Jews and their property. Was this societal behavior not pathological? Some
would say it was political, not a matter of societal sickness. True, it may have begun as some-
thing political, but it certainly morphed into the pathological as time went on. The prime
motivator behind Nazism was an absolutely mad man whose madness became contagious
in a country with seeds already planted in anti-Semitism. Decades later, Israel’s President,
Reuben Rivlin, called into question his own country when he said “Israeli society is sick, and
it is our duty to treat this disease and ease tensions between Arabs and Jews.”3 Rivlin was
referring to the racism that Jews showed towards Palestinians.

The rising tide of violence in America is a symptom of an agitated society that promotes
violence through media, political messaging, preoccupation with guns and other means of
aggression. Just because a set of behaviors is the norm in a society does not mean that the
behavior cannot be considered pathological—unless one believes that psychopathology is
time- and place-specific—in which case universal standards of good and bad or right and
wrong are irrelevant—which of course eliminates or diminishes the importance of such
things as the value of human life, caring, religion and ethics. Psychiatry and psychology
could have a tremendous impact in educating people about the natural differences and sim-
ilarities between groups of people in the world, and that physical differences have nothing
to do with superiority or inferiority of one group or another. Addressing the problem of
racism would afford psychiatry and clinical psychology an opportunity to make a profound
contribution to the betterment of humankind.

In his book, Racism, Albert Memmi cogently argues that the very foundation of White rac-
ism is built on unreality, myths and lies about a group of people who are physically different
from another group.4 Such delusional behavior is particularly dangerous since the racist
acts out aggressively based on this delusional perception and premise about other, non-
white people. Memmi contends that racism is no less of a mental disorder because it is
shared by others, even many others, within a society. The fact that so many may share in this
behavior only helps to institutionalize racism and gives it legitimacy, making it appear as
normal and acceptable behavior. One might say that this is a case wherein psychopathology
is covertly sanctioned by the social system in which it occurs. An extremely dangerous situ-
ation, not only for the victims of racism, but also for the perpetrators of the delusion which
is taken to higher heights by manipulating or “managing” education, the economy, the media
and the overall social context to ensure that the delusion looks non-delusional and therefore
unassailable. A racist society that goes to extreme lengths to maintain a delusion of supe-
2
riority of one group over another and the inferiority of that other group enhances the ego
of its favoured members. This clearly exhibits characteristics of a psychiatric disorder or
complex of disorders. Some might say that what all of this adds up to is hatred and hatred
does not fall within the purview of psychiatry. When a person hates another in response to
some wrong done to the former, this may not be of clinical import. But when a person un-
justifiably hates another and his hate is based on irrational ideation that is compulsively and
aggressively acted on, that is a matter of clinical concern.

The elephant in the room of the debate as to whether racism should be viewed as a mental
disorder is that the overwhelming majority of the decision makers in psychiatry and clini-
cal psychology are White men. White men who share in or may benefit from the system of
American racism, through access to “color-coded” privilege, are not likely to label their own
behavior or that of their loved ones, friends, neighbours, or colleagues as a mental disorder.
This is not to say, of course, that there are no White men who support dealing with racism as
a mental disorder. There are many. But, the question that arises is whether or to what extent
are American psychiatrists acting professionally to serve the well-being of individuals, or are
they serving special interests within society. Sadly, the U.S. has a rich history of psychiatry
being abused for political, racist or other reasons having nothing to do with the legitimate
care of an individual or group. For example, in 1851, Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright came up with
a diagnosis called drapetomania, a disorder that caused Black slaves to flee captivity. As a
remedy, Dr. Cartwright recommended “whipping the devil out of them” or removing both
their big toes.5 A Black slave wanting and acting to gain his freedom was seen as a “mental
disorder.” In the 1970s, the wife of Attorney General John Mitchell was falsely diagnosed
with a paranoid mental disorder for claiming that the Administration of President Nixon
was engaged in illegal activities. Her claims, of course, were later proven true. Uncovered in
his book, The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease, psychiatrist Jon-
athan Metzl, reported on how Black civil rights activists in the 1960s were being diagnosed
as schizophrenic in Michigan’s Ionia State Hospital because of their civil rights ideas.6

When I speak about White racism in America, I am in no way saying or even implying that all
White Americans are racists, as I said earlier in the book. But, does this mean that all White
racists are suffering from a mental disorder? The short answer is No. The longer answer is
presented next.

A Continuum of Racist Behavior

White racist behavior appears to exist on a continuum. At one end, there are Whites who
genuinely show little or no racial prejudice towards others based on skin color or other
physical characteristics. Moving along the continuum, we find Whites who may exhibit some
degree of racism due to their not having any personal relationships with Blacks and the fact
that they have been influenced by the racially biased environment in which they live, work
or socialize. These individuals would not consider themselves as racists, but may neverthe-
less hold some biased perceptions about Black people. If placed in a situation where they
3
became familiar with a Black neighbor, co-worker or colleague, they would be more likely
to change their preconceived negative view of that Black individual—but not necessarily all
Blacks, who they may continue to view through the racially biased lens of the media or other
influences in their lives. At the other end of the continuum, we find the extremely bigoted
Whites who, for instance, would walk into a Black church and kill the members present,
or burn down a Black family’s house just because they have a house, or one who derives
euphoric pleasure from watching a Black man hang from a tree, or one who harbours an
unfounded deep-seated hatred for Black people.

The common thread that runs through this continuum is the acceptance of the delusion
that Blacks are inherently inferior to Whites and are a threat to the well-being of Whites.
Wherea White individual would fall on this continuum depends upon factors, such as his or
her unique personality and morality, how much of the racial delusion he or she has bought
into or strongly believes in, or how much racism is manifested in his or her external behav-
ior. Placement at a given point on the continuum of racist behavior could be indicative of a
mental disorder, again, depending on the individual. Looking at racism from a psychiatric
perspective may, therefore, help to understand how racism is sustained on the individual
person level.

Mental Disorders
We all have our likes and dislikes, our prejudices for or against something or someone which
are not necessarily pathological. In this section, the focus is not on prejudice, defined as an
opinion not based on reason, fact or experience; but the focus is on racism, defined as a be-
lief that one’s race is superior to another’s and the use of this belief to justify the mistreat-
ment or destruction of members of that other race. We should bear in mind, however, that
extreme or uncontrolled prejudice can morph into racism or be contained in racist behavior.

Another important point that must be considered in analyzing the underlying pathology of
racism is the overriding delusion of racial superiority. Psychologically, a delusional disorder
can take on different forms. The one that seems most relevant here is grandiose delusion,
in which people have an inflated sense of ability or power or superiority that is not borne
out by reality. Classification of human beings based on skin color and physical features with
Whites being superior to all other groups is, at best, a myth; it has absolutely no scientific
merit. To therefore hold to an ideology of racial superiority or hierarchy is delusional. In
countries where Whites dominate militarily and economically, the “delusion-based reality”
of racial superiority and inferiority is contrived, i.e., made up to delude Whites and those
they have oppressed of the former’s superiority.

Before proceeding, the term, delusion-based reality needs some clarification. At first, it
might appear to be an oxymoron by linking the word delusion with the word reality. But,
it isn’t. A reality can be actual or contrived or engineered. In the case of most or a majority
of African Americans, their impoverished or disadvantaged socioeconomic condition has
4
been largely engineered by deliberate actions on the part of the country’s racist system to
keep Blacks down, educationally and otherwise. Let’s take educational achievement as one
example. Black communities have been systematically denied schools that are sufficiently
resourced to help their children learn. The alleged claim of inferior intelligence of Black
children is exposed for the lie it is when Black children are given the same educational ex-
periences and supports as their White counterparts. Education truly helps tremendously to
level the playing field. That is why the system of racism works so hard and relentlessly to
deny Blacks equal educational opportunities. Racists are realists. They know that if Blacks
are given a chance to achieve that they will achieve and shatter the myths about their so-
called inherent inferiority. We see this in middle class Black youth whose parents are able to
afford quality basic and college education for their children, who perform at academic levels
equal to that of White students.

As I said before, this social engineering is done on the false assumption that Blacks deserve
to be at the bottom of the social ladder because they can do no better. While the realities
Blacks face day-to-day are no delusion, the basis for it is delusional and serves to bolster
racist ideology. Delusion-based reality is akin to a lie when it is repeated often enough, it
eventually becomes accepted as the truth. But, the fact of the matter is that it is still a lie. To
alter reality is to lie and to believe in the lie is to be deluded.

Elements of Mental Disorder in Racism

There are elements of pathology in racist thinking and behavior. Rather than trying to deal
with racism as a global or general psychiatric category, let us take a different approach. We
can look at the individual elements that comprise racist behavior and determine if these
elements are pathological, utilizing the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5). This manual contains the of-
ficial classifications of mental disorders used by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to
assess the mental health of individuals.

Obsessive Behavior
White racists appear to be obsessed with the color of people’s skin. Obsession exists by
degree, of course. Some Whites may be mildly preoccupied with skin color while others
may be more extreme. According to the DSM-5, obsessions are recurrent or persistent
thoughts, urges or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted.7 Obsessions
intrude on daily functioning and may result from distress or some form of anxiety. Some
classical examples of this behavior include incessant nail-bitting, hair-pulling, uncontrol-
lable repetition of behaviors, such as checking and re-checking whether the door is locked
or the gas stove is turned off. The pathology lies in the preoccupation and recurrence of
behaviors with no rational reason. The obsession is seemingly uncontrollable and may be
carried out unconsciously or without much notice by the person. A racist individual who
dislikes, hates, discriminates against and minimizes or totally avoids interaction with others
5
unlike himself in skin color can be said to be constantly and continuously preoccupied or
obsessed with skin color. He goes through life viewing others in terms of being either white
or non-white and responding to others based solely on skin color and ideation associated
with non-white color.

As noted in passing, the degree of obsession can be extreme in certain cases, such that it can
influence major decisions in one’s life. An example that I can personally reference is about a
dear friend of my wife and I, Margo, a White woman. She married a Black man, a well known
Broadway musical composer and orchestra conductor. Margo’s father, the CEO of one of
America’s largest insurance companies was so obsessed with skin color that he became out-
raged by his daughter’s choice to marry a Black man. As a consequence, Margo’s father actu-
ally disowned and banned her from the family—his own flesh and blood. It wasn’t as some
might think a matter of money, for Margo’s husband was rich in his own right. If inheriting
family wealth was the consideration in the father’s mind, a simple pre-nuptial agreement
would have sufficed. The couple just had the audacity to fall in love with one another which
violated the father’s obsession with skin color. This is not an isolated incident; there are
countless instances of Whites disowning their own children because they dated or married
someone Black. When obsession can trump one’s close family ties and value of personal re-
lationships, it moves into the territory of the dysfunctional. Some psychiatrists might count-
er in the example I just gave that the father may not have experienced any dysfunction or
anxiety, or even guilt over his decision to disown his daughter. That could be true in theory.
But, in actuality it is not very likely that his decision had no serious emotional impact upon
him and/or his wife, Margo’s mother.

According to the DSM-5, an obsession is usually unwanted by the individual. Would this be
true for White racists, who are overly focused on skin color of others? In the case of extreme
racists, the answer would probably be no. But for other Whites, such obsession may lead
them to confront a part of themselves that they do not like. Signs or symptoms of obsessive/
compulsive disorder (OCD) include fear of things, people, perceived intruders, or acts of vi-
olence against self. Fear is the next element we look at.

Phobia
Phobias, according to the DSM-5, are mental disorders related to marked fear or anxiety
about a specific situation, objects, people or animals. A phobic person will go out of his or
her way to avoid the fared object, situation or person. When face to face with that which is
unrealistically feared, the phobic person may lose his or her ability to function normally.
The person’s reaction is out of proportion to actual threat or risk to life or well-being. The
perceived fear, emotional anxiety and avoidance behavior are persistent and can cause sig-
nificant long-term distress, hatred and aggressive behavior.

There are many types of phobias and sub-types. Although not mentioned in the DSM-5,
there is a race related phobia. It is negrophobia, which describes a person who fears Black
6
people and believes his/her own race is superior to those of the Black race and that Blacks
are dangerous or a threat to White people. Psychiatrst, Franz Fanon, once asserted that ne-
grophobia is a form of trauma for White people of the Negro.8 The subject was most recently
addressed on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.9 While Maddow dealt with the subject
from a political perspective on how politicians feed off of this fear in Whites, the discussion
did shed light on the existence of the phobia even in today’s times.

Whenever a Black person enters the space of a White person, the latter may react with anx-
iety or fear. President Obama even spoke about how White people have looked at him sus-
piciously as he entered an elevator with Whites already on it. Black people are very famil-
iar with the non-verbal reactions of Whites if a Back person moves towards or near them;
they grunt or clear their throat or make some type of sound indicating their displeasure
or distress from being in close proximity with a Black person, especially a Black male, who
they view as intrusive or threatening. This particular mental disorder is promoted and rein-
forced constantly by the media which makes a special effort to portray all Black men as no
good, untrustworthy, criminals, or rapists.

Disruptive, Impulse-Control and

Conduct Disorders
The DSM-5 describes this category of mental disorders as conditions involving problems
in the self-control of emotions (e.g., anger) and behaviors (e.g. lack of remorse). These dis-
orders are unique in that they are manifested in behaviors that violate the rights of others
(e.g., aggression, destruction of property) and/or that bring the individual into significant
conflict with societal norms or authority.10 Examples of such disorders have typically in-
cluded kleptomania, pyromania and other lack of impulse-control problems. What is inter-
esting is that the APA considers lack of impulse-control resulting in violation of the rights of
others to be a mental disorder, but does not consider racist behaviour which results in viola-
tion of the rights of others or their property to be a mental disorder. Lack of impulse-control
is quite evident, for instance, in the behaviors of White supremacists, White racist police
officers and others whose unjustified hatred of Black people is overtly expressed in overly
aggressive ways. The unjustified shootings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Dontre
Hamilton in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and many other incidents involving the shooting of un-
armed Black men and boys by White police officers; the choking to death of Eric Garner by
New York City police officers; or the lynching of Black men and burning of their homes are
only some examples of White men with no impulse or conduct control resulting in the vio-
lations of the rights and lives of Black people. The fact that Michael Brown and other Back
men were shot multiple times or subjected to intense physical torture only underscores the
impulsivity and excessive rage of the White perpetrators.

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 Narcissistic Personality Disorder
An individual diagnosed as having a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) has a grandiose
sense of self-importance, an exaggerated need for admiration and lacks an ability to empa-
thize with the feelings or needs of others.11 He or she believes he or she is very special and
deserves to associate only with other special people. Because of his or her inflated self-es-
teem, this person has a high sense of entitlement. Interpersonally, this person is exploitative
and takes advantage of others and is envious of the achievements or possessions of others.
Also, this individual tends to show arrogant behaviors and attitudes and devalues the exis-
tence and contributions of others. Underlying this pattern of behavior is self-delusion.

Many of the characteristics of a narcissistic personality disorder can be seen in the attitudes
and behaviors of White racists. Belief in the doctrine of white supremacy gives racist indi-
viduals an inflated sense of self-worth; it makes them believe that they are special by vir-
tue of their white skin and that they should only associate with other White people. White
racist individuals have an inflated sense of entitlement that Blacks should not have. Related
to this sense of entitlement is the feeling that White people are the center of attention in
the world and that only they are the true leaders of the globe. Their lack of empathy shields
them from having to feel any identity with or guilt for how they treat Blacks. The system of
white racism regularly minimizes, distorts or denies historical and contemporary contri-
butions made by Black people to civilization. This is reflected in the personality of the nar-
cissist. When Black Americans do manage to achieve and gain material wealth despite the
racial roadblocks, White racists tend to be jealous and their envy can sometimes turn into
aggressive hatred. These emotions are consistent with the narcissistic personality disorder.

Other Mental Disorders

The DSM-5 lists other disorders, including other personality disorders. They also have char-
acteristics or elements that might be found within an individual’s racist behavior (e.g., par-
anoid personality disorder) depending upon the severity of the person’s racism.

Let me make one final observation on the mental disorders included in the DSM-5. List-
ed under the heading, “Other Conditions That May Be a Focus of Clinical Attention,” is the
sub-heading, Target of (Perceived) Adverse Discrimination or Persecution, which is “…
perceived or experienced discrimination against or persecution of the individual based
on his or her membership (or perceived membership) in a specific category. Typically,
such categories include gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs,
disability status, caste, social status, weight, and physical appearance.”12 What is remark-
able about this disorder is that it pertains exclusively to those
on the receiving end of the discrimination and nothing is said about the mental status of those
who do the discriminating. Is it the position of the APA that those who inflict psychic pain on
others are mentally healthy or that there is nothing of clinical significance in the behavior of
the discriminators? Again, this raises a broader question as to whether psychiatry serves the
8
wishes of the system of American racism, or does it serve to better the menatl health of society?

Overall, it is evident that elements of obsessive/compulsiveness, phobia, lack of impulse-con-

trol, narcissistic personality disorder and possibly other mental disorders are present in
racist behavior. My examination of psychopathology in racist behavior is not intended as an
in-depth clinical analysis of the etiology and psycho-dynamics of racist behavior. Rather, it
is meant to shed some light on the elements of mental illness contained in racist behavior. It
is, therefore, hard to imagine that the occurrence and prominence of such elements in racist
behavior would not lead one to consider and/or conclude that racist behavior, or at least
degrees of it, is itself a form of mental illness.

Some Further Thoughts on How

Whites Deal with Their Racism
In addition to the elements of pyschopathology involved in racist behavior, there are other
psychological dynamics that bear consideration and may also help in advancing our under-
standing about the recalcitrance of racism in this country.

zz Self-Rationalization of Racist Behavior

Mind games that White racists play to justify their horrendous treatment of people of color
include strategies to reduce tension caused by cognitive dissonance (i.e., tension or conflict
that arises when a person is confronted with how he views himself versus how he actually
behaves). If a Black person does not fit the stereotyped perception of a White person, the
latter must figure out some way to reduce the tension or contradiction, without accepting
reality. An intelligent Black man is seen as an exception to his race rather than as just an in-
telligent man. Some Whites brought up in a White environment might conclude that a Black
man driving an expensive car probably stole the car, for how else could he afford it? The
content of other mind-games includes defining Africans as less than human, since they live
in jungles with the animals; or that Blacks are meant to be slaves according to the curse of
Ham; or that Whites were destined to rule over people of color as their superiors, according
to the hierarchy of races.

Cognitive dissonance can affect parts of the brain. For example, neurological research has
shown that when a person is confronted with dissonance tension, the reasoning part of the
brain shuts down.13 It is not uncommon for a bigoted person to double down on his biased
perception of Blacks when confronted with reality, rather than to reassess his perception.
This amounts to a shutting down of one’s reasoning capabilities, which may externally man-
ifest itself as stubbornness or feeling boxed in. The person’s brain or mind simply does not
deal with the tension, which could then lead to other mental problems, e.g., uncontrollable
anger.

Other psychological defense mechanisms are also used by Whites to rationalize, justify or
suppress their racism. Projection of violence onto Blacks; or displacement of blame to Blacks
9
 for the misfortunes of working class Whites are just some examples. It’s easier and saf
blame minorities for taking away jobs than it is to confront the corporate elite for mo
job opportunities overseas; or it’s easier to make up criminal myths about immigran
color to justify discriminatory deportation. Use of these and other defense mechanisms
not interfere with the normal functioning of most Whites, but it does alter their percep
of reality and negatively impacts interpersonal relationships with people that could o
wise prove healthy.

zz The Role of Hatred in White Racism

White people who participate in the racist mistreatment of Black people are more l
to hate Black people. In this context, hate becomes the defense mechanism for prote
the White psyche. That is, the mistreatment comes first, followed by the hatred as a w
reducing cognitive dissonance and eliminating their need for feeling guilty. The emoti
hate, in turn, intensifies the mistreatment and discrimination, locking many Whites in
irrational acceptance of their racist behavior.

zz “ I’m Not A Racist”

When most White people say they are not racist, they are referring to what is called,
fashion racism,” i.e., that Blacks are biologically inferior and other racist ideologies s
ming from slavery. Modern day Whites reject such brazen ideologies. Instead, they dis
courtesy and political correctness in public, but still harbor prejudices in private. The
lieve that the reason why Blacks are not progressing enough is because Blacks lack m
vation, a strong work ethic, and that they seek favours or handouts from the governm
These Whites don’t believe in affirmative action, because it takes away jobs and educat
opportunities from Whites which they feel Blacks don’t deserve. Following this line of
soning, Whites attempt to convince themselves that they are not being racist, but rather
they are just pointing out the reasons why Blacks are not improving their living condit
Many Whites assume that Blacks should accept their assessment as “objective” and no
ased.

zz Adversive Racism
This is the tendency of Whites to remain apart from Blacks. The term was coined by psy
analyst, Joel Kovel.14 It refers to a White person with racist attitudes who tries to ignor
existence of Blacks. He or she tries to avoid contact with them, wherever possible and w
unavoidable, he or she is on the surface polite, but cold. It is the same as what psycholo
call reaction formation, where a person does or says just the opposite of what he fee
thinks.

Shared Social Pathology

Some clinicians believe that a behavior viewed in isolation may be designated as pa
logical, but would be considered normative or normal if that behavior is greatly share
others in the society at large. This is the reasoning for saying that racism is not a m
10
 fer to disorder, but a cultural or social problem. So in theory, for instance, if a significant propor-
oving tion of a society exhibits a psychosis or depression, then these behaviors would be deemed
nts of normative. Also, because they are exhibited by a large number of people in the society, they
s may could not be treated by psychiatry. That doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. People
ption within this theoretical society who do not exhibit psychotic or depression behavior, are they
other- considered abnormal, sick or just different? The point remains that even though a mental
disorder is shared or manifested by a large or majority number in a society doesn’t make
the behavior any less pathological. It may make it harder to discern abnormality because
of its pervasiveness, but it doesn’t deny the very existence of the illness. The pathological
likely elements of racism characterize it as a mental problem, just as the elements of a psychosis
ecting or depression define them as mental problems. It is denial of reality in a psychiatric sense
way of to say that racism is not a mental disorder when it has many elements of mental disorder.
ion of
nto an That racist behaviors are shared among the White American population is undeniably true,
not only from the perspective of people of color, but also from the perspective of the world,
which views these behaviors as perverse peculiarities of a nation that waves a banner of
freedom and democracy.15 Except among a minority of Whites who are aware and sensitive
, “old to the problem of racism, the question is how is it that a bulk of the White population in the
stem- U.S. share the same or similar racist views about Black people?
splay
What does the word, shared, mean in the present context? First, Whites have in common so-
ey be-
cial, economic, educational, legal and political advantages available to them that are system-
moti-
atically denied to Black Americans. Second, Whites are aware of their privileged status and
ment.
have come to expect it. They expect, for instance, to get a job over a Black person whether
tional
equally qualified or not. Whites expect to fare better than Blacks when it comes to comparing
f rea-
income, wealth, housing or health status. In cases where the comparison favors Blacks over
r that
Whites, the information is marginalized or deleted from the public media. An example is a
tions.
2010 report from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention that showed rates of suicide
ot bi-
among White Americans were on the increase, while that for Blacks were significantly lower
and on the decline.16 This positive health statistic for Blacks in comparison to Whites was
little noted in the press. As a matter of fact, more attention was given to the rise in suicides
among Whites to the virtual exclusion of what was happening with Blacks. This is not to say
ycho-
that the situation with Whites is not of concern. But given the history of unfavourable health
re the
statistics for Blacks, one would think that some mention of improvement in their health
when
would be noteworthy. After all, the Black community has been historically beset by health
ogists
problems of all sorts. Whites do not expect to find themselves in the same boat as Blacks.
els or
Take criminal offenses for instance. In a condescending or pitying manner you often hear
Whites talk about Black-on-Black violence and how Blacks are even a threat to one another.
Based on the most recently available FBI data (from 2013), 90.1 percent of Black homicide
victims are killed by other Blacks and 83.5 percent of White homicide victims are killed by
atho- other Whites.17 Although both statistics are equally very high, media attention is given to the
ed by Black-on-Black murder rate, but little or no mention is made about the high White-on-White
mental murder rate. The biased media coverage seems deliberate and only reinforces the negative
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image of African Americans, especially males.

Due to what they learn from school, their families, peers and the media about other rac-
es, Whites share common prejudicial and stereotypical perceptions, attitudes and views of
Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and people of Asian descent. This in and of itself may
not be necessarily pathological, but it cannot help but be complicit in fostering and sustain-
ing a societal atmosphere of racism. Then there are, of course, the extreme racists who share
these same commonalities, but act on them in aggressive, violent and unremorseful ways
not only towards Blacks but also Whites who are seen as not towing the racist line.

In the Deep South during slavery, it was not uncommon for Whites to gather and watch a
Black person, usually a male, being lynched for a crime—one which he did not commit more
often than not. The gathering served as an occasion for racist Whites to incite one another
in their hatred of Blacks. In more recent times, racist mob action has taken a different form.
There was an incident in Boston, Massachusetts in 1989 in which a White man, Charles
Stuart, accused a Black man of having murdered his pregnant wife.18 When the accusation
hit the press, Whites became outraged. According to Mr. Stuart, he and his wife were in a
car going through Roxbury, when at a stop light, “a Black gunman with a raspy voice forced
his way into their car, ordered them to drive to nearby Mission Hill, robbed them, then shot
Charles in the stomach and his Wife, Carol, in the head. She and the baby later died. On hear-
ing this, a White mob damaged property and caused injuries to some of the residents of Mis-
sion Hill. Mr. Stuart identified from a police line up a Black man named Willie Bennett as the
perpetrator. As it turned out, police subsequently determined that it was the husband who
actually shot his wife and shot himself in the stomach to make it look like someone else did
it. In trying to get away with the crime, Charles Stuart knew that all he had to do was accuse
a Black man of the crime and the police and his fellow White citizens would believe him.
One of the racist images Whites have of Black men is that they are dangerous and are always
seeking to harm Whites. Charles Stuart was right. A White mob formed in no time and de-
scended upon the Black neighborhood where the alleged crime took place. Mr. Stuart later
committed suicide. Besides the heinous nature of the crime and the tragedies that followed,
the incident showed that it does not take much to bring out the racism of Whites and a call to
mob action. The initial reaction of the police, the White residents of Boston and the press all
underscored the degree to which a presumptuous anti-Black bias is shared among Whites.

Summary
In summary, the following points emerged from this examination of racist behavior as a
mental disorder. First, using APA-approved diagnostic categories, there are definite ele-
ments of psychopathology in racist thinking and behavior, i.e., delusion, obsession, phobia,
impulse-control and conduct disorders, and possibly other personality disorders. A single
element of pathology, with the exception of negrophobia, does not in and of itself consti-
tute a mental disorder. Racist behavior probably involves more than just one of the diag-
nostic elements discussed here. Second, the persistence of racism in America is, in part,

12
due to the “normalization” of racist thinking and behaviors adopted by Whites. A conse-
quence of this normalization is that many or most Whites do not see themselves as racist or
racism as a problem that concerns them personally. Third, racial superiority of Whites is a
delusion and has been bolstered by engineered social, economic and political deprivation
of Black Americans. Fourth, by not officially recognizing racism as a mental disorder, or at
least the extreme manifestations of racism, mainstream American psychiatry is a roadblock
to furthering clinical consideration, research and the development of educational and ther-
apeutic approaches to help address the problem of White racism. Fifth, not all Whites are
racists. And certainly, not all Whites would be considered psychopathic based on their racist
thinking, attitudes or behaviors. There is, of course, that minority of White extremists, who
would boldly and proudly admit their hatred and disdain of Blacks. This minority clear-
ly shows signs and symptoms of racial psychopathology. Nevertheless, there is complicity
among most White Americans in their conscious or unconscious acceptance and possession
of racist perceptions about Blacks and habits of generally relating to them in negative or
discriminatory ways. The mental disorders and dynamics I have discussed have direct rel-
evance to understanding White racist behavior, but they only really scratch the surface of
the problem of why racism persists from a psychological perspective. We know from history
that African people were forcibly taken from their native homes, transported to the Ameri-
cas to be enslaved as non-human property. They were subjected to the cruellest dehuman-
ization and oppression than any other group in history. Even after 400+ years since slavery
of Africans and their liberation as African Americans, Whites still harbour hatred towards
Blacks. What is it about the White psyche that suspends conscience in their treatment of
Black people? What do White people see when they look at Black people? Is it, as some
followers of Karl Jung suggests, some deep-seated primordial fear or envy that elicits such
violent and sustained negative reaction on the part of Whites?19 These questions beg for
more investigation into the psychology of White racists.

ENDNOTES
1
Poussaint, Alvin F., “They Hate. They Kill. Are They Insane?” New York Times, August 26, 1999; and Bell, Carl C. and
Dunbar, Edward, “Racism and Pathological Bias as a Co-occurring Problem in Diagnosis and Assessment.” In Thomas
A. Widiger (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Personality Disorders, England: Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 694-709.
2
The Hippocratic Oath: Modern Version: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_doctors.html.
3
Sales, Ben “New president seeks to cure ‘epidemic’ of racism. Times of Israel, October 2, 2014.
4
Memmi, Albert, Racism. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis, 2000.
5
White, Kevin, An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness. New York: Sage, 2002, pp. 1-2; and Cartwright,
Samuel A., “Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race. DeBow’s Review XI. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
6
Metzl, Jonathan, The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease. Boston: Beacon Press, 2010.

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7
Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. DSM-5. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association,
2013, p. 235.
8
Alessandrini, Anthony C., Franz Fanon: Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge, August 2005, p. 153.
9
The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, July 21, 2010.
10
DSM-5, pp. 461-462; 469-470.
11
Ibid., pp. 669-672.
12
Ibid., p. 724.
13
Westen, Drew et al., “Neural bases of motivated reasoning: an fMRI study of emotional constraints on partisan po-
litical judgement in the 2004 presidential election.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 18, no. 11, October 2006,
2006, pp. 1947-1958.
14
Kovel, Joel, White Racism: A PsycholHistory. New York: Pantheon Books, 1970. P. 54.
15
For example: Boden, Christopher, Business Insider: “The world is mystified by America’s enduring racism and bi-
zarre gun laws.” Associated Press, June 19, 2015; and Taylor, Adam “How the rest of the world reacted to the Ferguson
verdict.” The Washington Post, November 25, 2014.
16
http://students.com.miami.edu/netreporting/?page_id=1285.
17
Crime in the United States 2013: Table 6, Murder: Race, Ethnicity and Sex of Victim by Race, Ethnicity and Sex of
Offender.nd Sex of Offender, 2013 [Single victim/single offender].
18
https://en.wikipedia/Charles_Stuart(murderer).
19
Gilbert, Michael, The Evil of American Racism. http://www.michaelgellert.com/pdf/michael_gellert-evil_of_amer-
ican_racism.pdf.

Dr. Collier can be contacted at: wvcollier@yahoo.com

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