APA Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry
The APA Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry was formed by APA President Dr. Jeffrey Geller in June 2020. Read the announcement of the task force here.
Have feedback, comments or want to get engaged with the Task Force's work? Email SRTaskForce@psych.org or click the button below.
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[Recommended Reading: A curated list of medical journal articles, news, media, websites, documents and books, recommended by our Task Force.]
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Charge of the Task Force
Focusing on organized psychiatry, psychiatrists, psychiatric trainees, psychiatric patients, and others who work to serve psychiatric patients, the Task Force is initially charged with:
- Providing education and resources on APA's and psychiatry's history regarding structural racism;
- Explaining the current impact of structural racism on the mental health of our patients and colleagues;
- Developing achievable and actionable recommendations for change to eliminate structural racism in the APA and psychiatry now and in the future;
- Providing reports with specific recommendations for achievable actions to the APA Board of Trustees at each of its meetings through May 2021; and
- Monitoring the implementation of tasks 1-4.
The Task Force will initially focus on anti-Black racism.
Task Force Membership
Task Force Survey Results
The Task Force has fielded three short, informal surveys to ensure its work is informed by the field of psychiatry at large. More surveys are anticipated and will be shared here.
Members can provide direct feedback to the Task Force by emailing SRTaskforce@psych.org.
- Survey #1, fielded between June 30 and July 10, 2020, asked: "What are the top three areas the Task Force should focus on to address the impact of structural racism on our patients?" The top themes of the answers from about 485 respondents were: "Access to care," "Professional diversity," and "Experiences of racism."
View a summary of results from the first survey here
- Survey #2, fielded between July 23 to August 6, 2020, asked: "What are the top three ways that institutional racism is reflected in APA as an organization?" The top themes of the answers from 731 respondents were: "Diversity in leadership," "None exists at APA," and "Other."
View a summary of results from the second survey here
- Survey #3, fielded between October 5 to 23, 2020 covered eight questions focused on racism in psychiatric practice.
View a summary of results from the third survey here
Future and past town Halls planned by the Task Force and other organizations.
- May 1 | 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. ET
- Part of the 2021 Annual Meeting
- Cheryl Wills, M.D.; Michele Reid, M.D.; Renée Binder, M.D.; Charles Dike, M.D.
Join Task Force members in a discussion about their charge and other processes that have informed their work. Task Force members will share the recommendations for reform made by it in reports to the APA Board of Trustees and review particular Task Force activities.
Learn More + Register
- March 23 | 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET
- Cheryl Wills, M.D.; Frank Clark, M.D.; Renée Binder, M.D.; Regina James, M.D.; Charles Dike, M.P.H; Sanya Virani, M.D., M.P.H.
Resident-Fellow Members are invited to join Task Force members in a discussion about their creation, composition, charge, and approach, as well as future opportunities to get involved as the work continues.
Learn More + Register
- February 8 | 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. ET
- Sheritta Strong, M.D.; Crystal Clark, M.D.; Nhi-Ha Trinh, M.D.; Michael Mensah, M.D.; Michele Reid, M.D.
APA leadership and an esteemed panel host a virtual Town Hall to discuss how structural racism affects diversity in the psychiatry workforce. Topics will include the disproportionate number of minority psychiatrists, their experiences in different practice settings, and why having diversity in the psychiatric workforce psychiatry is important for everyone.
View the Recording
- November 16 | 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. ET
- Ebony Dix, M.D.; Chuan-Mei Lee, M.D.; Peter Ureste, M.D.; Michele Reid, M.D..
APA leadership and an esteemed panel host a virtual Town Hall to discuss how in clinical settings structural racism manifests itself in relation to communities of color, particularly in children, adolescents, adults, older adults, and other populations ( i.e., LGBTQIA+).
View the Recording
- August 24 | 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. ET
- Jeffrey Geller M.D., M.P.H.; Altha J. Stewart, M.D.; Aletha Maybank, M.D., M.P.H.; Kevin Simon, M.D.
APA Past President Dr. Altha Stewart, AMA Chief Health Equity Officer and Group Vice President Dr. Aletha Maybank, and 2020-21 REACH scholar Dr. Kevin Simon join APA President Dr. Jeffrey Geller to discuss how structural racism plays a role in inequalities and propose solutions to improve Black Americans' mental health outcomes. The town hall examines the following:
View the Recording
- Massachusetts Psychiatric Society
- July 8, 2020
- Jeffrey Geller M.D., M.P.H.; Sally Reyering, M.D., DFAPA; Kathy Sanders M.D.; Micaela Owusu, M.D., M.Sc.; Alex Keuroghlian, M.D., M.P.H.; Marshall Forstein, M.D.; Astrid Desrosiers, M.D., M.P.H.; and Destiny Pegram, M.D.
Leaders within organizational and academic psychiatry convened for the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society: Taking the First Steps Forward Town Hall in order to discuss issues related to structural racism and discrimination. The goal of this town hall was to highlight ongoing national and local efforts to ameliorate racism within our field. In addition to discussing their ongoing action plans, the distinguished panelists, including APA president Dr. Geller engaged in an extremely productive Q&A segment with the audience participants.
View the Recording
- June 5, 2020
- Danielle Hairston, M.D.; Thea L. James, M.D.; Ayana Jordan, M.D., Ph.D.; Walter E. Wilson, Jr., M.D., M.H.A.; Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H.
These distinguished speakers discuss the ways in which APA can address structural racism, including the role of associations and allies in supporting this work. Panelists, including APA President Dr. Jeffrey Geller, shared their perspectives and participated in a Q&A session with APA members in a dialogue about the way forward for our organization.
View the Recording
Clicking on the below links will download the .pdf Position Statements to your device for viewing.
A glossary of terms to know for providing culturally competent care, created by the Task Force.
View the Glossary
- Psychiatry Diversity Leadership in Academic Medicine: Guidelines for Success
Jordan, A., Shim, R., Rodriguez, C., Bath, E., Alves-Bradford, J., Eyler, L., Trinh, N., Hansen, H., Mangurian, C. (2020).
- Dimensions of Institutional Racism in Psychiatry
Sabshin, M., Diesenhaus, H., & Wilkerson, R. (1970). 127(6), 787–793
- Benjamin Rush and the Negro
Plummer, BL. (1970). 127:793-798
- Problems of Black Psychiatric Residents in White Training Institutes
Jones BE, Lightfoot OB, Palmer D, Wilkerson RG, Williams DH. (1970). 127:798-803
- Beware of Whites Bearing Gifts
Melchiode G, Gould SC, Fink PJ. (1970). 127:803-808
- The Social Psychiatry of Frantz Fanon
Adams PL. (1970). 127:809-814
- Reflections on Racism
Prudhomme C. (1970). 127:815-817
- Research and Careers for Blacks
Pierce CM. (1970). 127:817-818
This learning module prepares contemporary psychiatrists to practice with an anti-racism framework in the care of all patients, and especially African Americans. Competency in this area is provided through exploration of historical facts underscoring the linkage of "race" and material disadvantage in America, as well as the spread of scientific racism during nascent periods of psychiatry. Contemporary issues affecting African-American patients at the point of mental health care are emphasized, along with discussion of effective interventions for addressing the institutional, interpersonal, and internal manifestations of racism.
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Psychiatrists, and particularly psychiatry residents, are ill-equipped in recognizing and responding to racial discrimination from patients, families, and guests. The treatment settings within which they practice often fail to respond adequately and risk legal ramifications of failing to protect their employees against Title 7 violations. The module will address these gaps by providing guidelines, recommendations and case studies to address such discrimination.
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This activity focuses on microaggressions and their relationship to mental health and physical illness. Using a pulsed learning format via email, you are provided with a series of 10 multiple-choice questions to be completed over time. Questions are emailed to users at pre-set intervals and quantities. By tackling only a few questions at a time, the pulsed learning format eliminates brain strain and re-focuses attention on the subject matter to improve knowledge retention.
Access Course
The following are recommendations from members of the Task Force.
Medical Journals
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
American Journal of Psychotherapy
New England Journal of Medicine
- Race and Medicine
A selection of articles on race and medicine, with implications for improving patient care, professional training, research, and public health.
- Diagnosing and Treating Systemic Racism
Evans, M. K., Rosenbaum, L., Malina, D., Morrissey, S., & Rubin, E. J. (2020).
- Why I Stay – The Other Side of Underrepresentation in Academia
Forrester, A. (2020)
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion That Matter
Grubbs, V. (2020).
- Stolen Breaths
Hardeman, R. R., Medina, E. M., & Boyd, R. W. (2020).
- Majority Taxes — Toward Antiracist Allyship in Medicine
Mensah, M.O. (2020).
- Creating Real Change at Academic Medical Centers — How Social Movements Can Be Timely Catalysts
Morse, M., & Loscalzo, J. (2020).
Annals of Family Medicine
News and Media
- Coming Together: Standing up to Racism Town Hall Part 1
Appropriate for families & children | Sesame Street in Communities (YouTube, October 2020)
- For Doctors of Color, Microaggressions Are All Too Familiar
Goldberg, E. (New York Times, August 2020)
- To Be Young, A Doctor And Black: Overcoming Racial Barriers In Medical Training
Noguchi, Yuki. (NPR, July 2020)
- 'Bear Our Pain': The Plea For More Black Mental Health Workers
Noguchi, Yuki. (NPR, June 2020)
- How To Protest Safely During The Coronavirus Pandemic
Holmes, Lindsay. (Huffington Post, June 2020)
- Structural Racism Is Why I'm Leaving Organized Psychiatry
Shim, R. (STAT, June 2020)
- UCSF School of Medicine suspends affiliation with Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Society
(UCFS News, June 2020)
- White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America
Hagerman, M. (What is Black Podcast, June 2020)
- Whiteness on the Couch
Stovall, N. (Longreads, August 2019)
- The 1619 Project
Hannah-Jones, N., et al. (New York Times Magazine, 2019)
Websites and Documents
Books
- Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: New Press.
- Allen, T. (2012). The Invention of the White Race, Volume 1: Racial Oppression and Social Control. London New York: Verso.
- Allen, T. (2012). The Invention of the White Race, Volume 2: The Origin of Racial Oppression in Anglo America. London New York: Verso.
- Anderson, C. & Gibson, P. (2016). White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
- Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. New York: New York University Press.
- DiAngelo, R. (2018). White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston: Beacon Press.
- Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.
- Hooks, B. (1995). Killing Rage: Ending Racism. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
- Kendi, I. (2019). How to be an antiracist. New York: One World.
- Oluo, I. (2018). So You Want to Talk About Race. New York, NY: Seal Press Hachette Book Group.
- Takaki, R. (2008). A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown, and Co.
- West, C. (2017). Race Matters. Boston: Beacon Press.
- Wilkerson, I. (2020). Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. New York: Random House.
- Zinn, H. (2003). A People's History of the United States: 1492-2001. New York, New York: HarperCollins.