TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
director for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968. He served as a supervising psychologist and staff affiliate psychologist to five hospitals and three clini- cal practices in Southern California. He has worked as a consultant with school districts, universities, private organizations, drug prevention programs, and government agencies. Then California Governor Edmund “Pat” Brown, Jr appointed him to the California State Psychology Li- censing Board and served as chairman for three years. He is also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Menninger Foundation in Houston, Texas. In 1994, President Bill Clinton honored Dr. White with the Citation of Achievement in Psychology and Commu- nity Service. Other awards and recognition he received throughout his long career include honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Minnesota in 2007 and Alumnus of the Year from San Francisco State University in 2008. In 2003, Teachers College at Columbia Univer- sity honored Dr. White with its Janet E. Helms Award for mentoring and scholarship in psychology and education. In 2011, Michigan State University renamed its Outstand- ing Student Multicultural Research Award after Dr. White. UCI annually sponsors the Joseph White Lecture series. Psychology Feminist Voices Director Alexandra Ruther- ford commented about the passing of Dr. White, “A great soul and a historic figure for the profession and Black Psychology communities who will be missed.” Dr. White is survived by his wife, Lois; three daughters, Lori White, Lynn White Kell and Lisa White; two sons-in-laws and a host of friends.
access and opportunity for more than 250,000 low-income and educationally disadvantaged students throughout California, the majority of whom are first-generation college students.” While at UCI, he pushed for the establishment of the university’s Cross- Cultural Center. He was one of the founders of the Association of Black Psychologists in 1968. In 1970, he wrote a landmark article in Ebony magazine entitled “Toward a black psychology” which was instrumental in black psychology. The article introduced how the unique differences in ethnic minorities should be treated and understood in the field of psychology. Thomas Parham mentioned in an Orange Register article about Dr. White’s passing, “Tradi- tional psychology is based on the norms and customs and values of European American people. What Dr. White argued is that when you use traditional theories developed by white folks and then apply them to black folks, we come out looking pathological.” Dr. White characterized his viewpoint of ethnicity and psychol- ogy in a 2008 interview, “Psychology is part of America. Black people are invisible in America, they’re invisible in psychology. In America, black people are considered to be inferior, dumb, slow, childlike. Same thing in psychology, about low IQ, can’t do a com- plex task. We said: ‘How the hell did this happen?’” In 1984, he wrote The Psychology of Blacks: An African-American Perspective which was reprinted in 1990 and 1999. He authored other books including The Troubled Adolescent (1989), Black Man Emerging (1999), Building Multicultural Competency: De- velopment, Training, and Practice (2008) and Black Fathers: An Invisible Presence in America (2006; 2011). In addition to his teaching and research, he was a practicing psychologist and consultant. He once served as a local campaign
Dr. Joseph L. White 1932–2017 Trailblazing Psychologist, Professor, Dean, Researcher, Social Activist T he Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at the University of California- Irvine Thomas Parham said White enrolled at San Francisco State University where he obtained bach- elors and master’s degrees in psychol- By Aaron Williams
Joseph L. White entered Chapter Invisible on November 21, 2017 at the age of 84. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released a statement published in the Los Angeles Times article reflecting on Dr. White. “Dr. White was a renowned scholar and will be remembered for his pioneering work in clinical psychology. But like all great professors his most enduring con- tribution is that he touched so many lives as a mentor and a teacher.” Born in Lincoln, NE on December 19, 1932 to Dorothy Lee and Joseph L. White. He spent most of his child- hood in Minneapolis, MN. Due to 1930s and 1940s Minneapolis’ very small African-American community, he jokingly referred to himself as a “sun- burnt Swede”. After graduating high school, White eventually migrated to San Francisco in the early 1950s. Due to the recommendation of an aunt,
ogy. While a student at San Fran- cisco State, he was initiated into the fraternity in 1951 via the University of California-Berkeley Chapter, the Gamma Alpha of Kappa Alpha Psi. In 1961, he earned his PhD in clini- cal psychology from Michigan State University becoming the school’s first African-American to graduate from its clinical program. Dr. White is associated with the Uni- versity of California at Irvine (UCI) where he spent most of his career. He also held other positions in aca- demia including dean, professor, and researcher. While at the California State University at Long Beach, he was instrumental in establishing the Educational Opportunity Program, which has provided “educational
of his former professor, colleague and mentor, Dr. Joseph L. White, “He taught us with his heart and soul, he mentored us, he guided us because that is part of the UC Irvine experience. There is nobody who has a bigger heart, nobody who has a stronger commitment, nobody who has claimed and mentored more people than this man.” Known as the “Godfather of Black Psychology”, Dr. White, professor emeritus at the University of California-Irvine, was a trailblazing psychologist, lecturer, activist, and author who taught, mentored, and influenced hundreds of people of color in the field of psychology for over four decades. While traveling to visit a daughter for the Thanksgiving holidays, Dr.
...A great soul and a historic figure for the profession and Black Psychology communities who will be missed.
102 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 103
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