How I Know White People are Crazy and Other Stories

Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist

De: Jonathan Lassiter

Narrado por: Jonathan Lassiter

This psychologist is frustrated.

In the final stretch of his doctoral internship, Dr. Jonathan Mathias Lassiter had just one more milestone to complete—the diversity project—where candidates insert themselves into a situation in which they’d experience what it’s like to be a minority. Surprisingly, the all-white training committee failed him! They concluded that the program’s only Black intern did not understand diversity. Frustrated and panicked, he thought, These white people are crazy.

In How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories, Dr. Lassiter pulls back the curtain on the mental health system and reveals the hurdles that Black psychologists and students are forced to endure in the field. He tackles how white ideology has harmed Black patients and how it dominates America’s mental health practices.

As a Black gay man working as a psychologist under culturally insensitive supervisors and colleagues in America, he grows frustrated with the exclusive talk of Sigmund Freud and the overall narrowness of psychological studies. All this takes a mental and physical toll on him.

Using his expertise in research, his own therapy, and keeping a healthy dose of hip-hop and R&B in his ears, Dr. Lassiter discovered how we can center culture in our healing. Through a series of essays, he demands that the lived and cultural experiences of people of color, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities are properly represented within psychology practices so that we can better understand, live in, and navigate this frustrating world.

In this thought-provoking, funny, and searing indictment of the mental health system for patients, students, and professionals alike, How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories will leave you thinking differently about the psychologists in your life.

This book is NECESSARY!!!

I LOVED everything about this book. I enjoyed hearing the author read his work, share his experiences, and explain with great clarity the whiteness mindset. As I listened, the author became my younger brother, teacher, and friend in my head! I’m recommending this book to EVERYONE!!

Same sentiments exactly...exhausting

Whewwww Dr. Lassiter made many points throughout this book, MANY! For instance,"All oppression is oppression." I laughed, nodded, agreed, concurred, and even said "yep and I know that's right" outloud as though people could read my thoughts or know what i was in agreeing too page after page. He brought up an assignment that he had to do during Grad school in regards to Diversity and I too, remember this same assignment. We had to inject ourselves as the minority and "see how they live" and write a paper on it. His reaction was mines exactly. Chileeeee, this is our lives not a damn project or experience. I don't know why the APA finds this acceptable, then again being based off a predominantly white woman's thoughts and views is understandable. And then to have the token Black person in class to be asked questions after question, and to hear scenario after scenario chapped my arse. Even after the "assignment" many classmates still couldn't grasp the notion that they are blinded by reality, that Black people or People of the Global Majority live these lives day in and day out. it's not experiment nor an assignment. And when he spoke about us (Black people) having to do extra work, get more experience, more references while our counterparts do the bare minimum and are mediocre get the jobs just because of their race and their white sounding names. It's exhausting and at the same time refreshing to hear others having to jump through hoops when it comes to qualifications/jobs/experiences. I don't know why I'm surprised, but part of this is why I paused my doctoral process because of the daunting process and double work. Even in the mental health field, it's based off the thoughts of white men and women, who don't represent the rest of the world, their cultures, religions, socioeconomic status, race, beliefs and soooooooo much more isn't taken in account. I can go on and on about this read.... I'll just say if you're in the mental health field, read this book. If you're in Academia, read this book. If you're white, read this book. Great job, Dr. Lassiter. When, I'm done with my doctoral process, I wish to have mentor who is as passionate as you are. #Book12of2025 #Bookworm #Whatsnext