‘Without positive action, we risk living in a world that has potential to rob people of their dignity and sense of agency’

On 2 June 2020, the British Psychological Society released a statement in solidarity with those feeling pain and expressing anger about racial injustice, in response to protests following the killing of George Floyd in the US. Society President David Murphy said: 'Whilst it happened on another continent, many have felt it could have been them, or their brother or father. It is not hard to understand the rage that results from this sense of injustice and disempowerment.'

Dr Deborah Husbands, senior lecturer and co-chair of BME Network at University of Westminster, member of the BPS diversity and inclusion taskforce, and member of The Psychologist editorial advisory committee, contributed to the statement. Husbands said: 'Without positive action, we risk living in a world that has potential to rob people of their dignity and sense of agency. I want the work that we do in the Society to increase opportunities for us all to experience the kind of compassion that seeds increased respect for humanity.'

Below we share our recent coverage on racism and the need for diversity and inclusion.  

Cyber-racism – it doesn't just happen to footballers
Susan Cousins shares psychological insights following a racist online attack.

'We need to broaden the conversation to institutional bias'
We hear from Nasreen Fazal-Short, Chair of the British Psychological Society's Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce; and from Sarb Bajwa, Chief Executive.

Whose psychology is it anyway? Making psychological research more representative
Emily Reynolds presents episode 23 of our Research Digest podcast, PsychCrunch, on psychology's relationship with race and representation

'Change needs to happen on a real systemic level'
Dr Tosin Bowen-Wright (Clinical Psychologist and a manager within the Camden CAMHS service) in conversation with Paul Jenkins (Chief Executive of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust).

'I understood when I listened to people's stories'
Deanne Bell on her desire to understand and repair the world

Decolonising psychological science: encounters and cartographies of resistance
Luis Gómez-Ordóñez, Glenn Adams, Kopano Ratele, Shahnaaz Suffla, Garth Stevens and Geetha Reddy engage the decolonial project that Dr Deanne Bell outlined

'We don't just need warm words, we need actions'
Binna Kandola in conversation with Society President David Murphy about the British Psychological Society's Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce

Standing against racism
Letters in response to the killing of George Floyd. From the British Psychological Society's Division of Counselling Psychology Black and Asian Counselling Psychologists' Group, Anonymous, and Halina Bryan.

Decolonisation among clinicians
Sarah Atayero on the need for diversity in training and the workforce 

A truly validating experience
Susan Cousins reviews Guilaine Kinouani's book Living While Black

Really 'doing better' on racism
Craig A. Harper and Harry Purser argue that institutional virtue-signalling on racial inequality is not good enough, and suggest alternatives.

How do we 'other'?
Peter Hegarty on asymmetries of reasoning for lay and professional psychologists alike

Finding joy in decolonising
Flora Cornish reflects on a critical reading and dialogue group around Aimé Césaire's Discourse on Colonialism

BAME representation and psychology
Keisha York on the BAME in Psychiatry and Psychology group

WEIRD science…
Priya E. Maharaj on why we need more than tokenism.

A culture of silence and denial
Kimberly Sham Ku and Abdullah Mia on their experience of racism at a BPS conference 

Psychology, BAME and I
Trainee Forensic Psychologist Ana DaSilva with a personal perspective on a 'BAME in Psychiatry & Psychology' event

'We need to support our diverse population'
Susan Cousins on her book 'Overcoming Everyday Racism: Building Resilience and Wellbeing in the Face of Discrimination and Microaggressions'

'Be the best version of yourself… that's what African psychology does for me'
We meet Erica McInnis

Imagine all the people
Siân Jones considers contact interventions and prejudice towards immigrants in schools

'It's about the layers of disadvantage these children face in school'
Dr Chris Bagley is an Educational Psychologist, and former teacher, based in South London schools. We heard from him about school exclusion and race.

Closing the BAME attainment gap
Binna Kandola OBE, Guilaine Kinouani, Joanna Wilde and Grace Mansah-Owusu on fair representation in psychology research and practice

'It is a system that perpetuates unequal access'
Shameema Yousuf on structural racism in sport and sport psychology 

Do you trust the police?
An extract from Ken Rotenberg's book 'The Psychology of Trust', considering racial bias and corruption

Advancing BME psychology
Glen Jankowski, Sarah Gillborn and Rowan Sandle signpost to BME psychological and anti-racist work 

'We need a transformation in how we regard difference, diversity and inclusivity in psychology'
Ian Florance meets Zenobia Nadirshaw

No justice, no peace
Roberta Babb watches the film 13th

Racism at school and beyond
Philip Miti reviews 'The legacy of racism for children: Psychology, law, and public policy', edited by Margaret C. Stevenson, Bette L. Bottoms and Kelly C. Burke. 

Revealing Britain's prejudices
Ella Rhodes reports on a survey of prejudices in Britain  

Refusing to turn a blind eye to the race gap
Ella Rhodes reports from a symposium at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology

The structure of racism
Corinne Gurvitz reviews 'White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism' by Robin DiAngelo

You don't have to have all the answers
Dr Hannah Alghali on what she learnt working as a clinical psychologist who doesn't work in a clinic, including on representation in psychology

Fighting racism with science
Annie Brookman-Byrne reviews 'How to argue with a racist: History, science, race and reality' by Adam Rutherford 

'We're pulling bodies out of the river, we need to ask why they're falling in'
Dawn Edge on her work, including on institutional racism

The solution starts with us
Nadia Craddock reviews 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race' by Reni Eddo Lodge

Signposting to BME psychological and anti-racist work
Glen Jankowski argues that we are overlooking BME psychologists and their work

Black lives matter
Yetunde Ade-Serrano and Ohemaa Nkansa-Dwamena on why psychologists cannot afford to do nothing 

'In a way, we are all either Jedi or Sith'
Miles Thomas meets John Amaechi OBE – who discusses being a psychologist, organisational consultant, high-performance executive coach and former NBA basketball player, and experiences of discrimination 

Ferguson, policing and social psychology
Ella Rhodes speaks to Steve Reicher and Clifford Stot following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by authorities 

Achieving representation in psychology
Kate Bullen and Jamie Hacker Hughes answer questions about representation in UK psychology 

'I am lucky that I've always known what I wanted to do'
Ian Florance interviews Doyin Atewologun who talks about her work in diversity and leadership 

Where have all the BAME psychologists gone?
Jeune Guishard-Pine asks why there aren't more BAME psychologists in The Psychologist

You can also search racism, prejudice, discrimination and more from our Research Digest via our homepage.

What have we missed, or what aspects would you like to see in future editions? Get in touch on [email protected]