White Joseph L. (1932-)

Joseph L. White, born in 1932 in Lincoln, Nebraska, is a well-known African American professor, psychologist, activist, scholar, researcher, consultant, educator, and mentor who revolutionized traditional European American psychology by setting the stage and foundation for what is now known as cross-cultural psychology and multicultural counseling. White received his undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology in 1954 and 1958 from San Francisco State University and graduated with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and developmental psychology in 1961 from Michigan State University. White has held positions of psychologist, dean, director, assistant vice chancellor, and professor at institutions such as Washington University; California State University, Long Beach; San Francisco State University; and most recently the University of California, Irvine (professor emeritus of psychology and psychiatry). As a luminary in the cross-cultural psychology field, White—respectfully and endearingly known as “Joe,” “The Godfather,” and the “Father of Black Psychology”—has been challenging theories of psychology, academics, clinical agencies, organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA), and numerous university and psychology boards for more than 40 years.

White graduated during the groundswell of the 1960s civil rights movement and quickly emerged as a leader of social justice, diversity, and equality in psychology and in the community. White's formal education, talent, intellect, and social and political connectedness brought him into the company of individuals such as Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, and other members of the Black Panthers and brought him appointments to work with California Governor Edmund G Brown, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy.

In September 1968, White and a small group of African American psychologists founded the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) at the San Francisco meeting of the ARA. White's initial steps to revolutionize psychology began in 1968 when he and other members of the fledgling ABPsi confronted members of the APA and the convention planning committee regarding the absence of Black programming in psychology. Their truth was reality—that the struggles, strengths, science, practice, and psychology of Black Americans were not reflected in the largest organization of scientist-practitioners educating America on psychology, research, and therapy. Disheartened, angry, and driven by scholarship, White was determined to shift the paradigm of thinking on how psychology defines ethnic minority individuals. Until the 1960s, Black and other minority individuals were conceptualized according to European American and Western standards of living and psychology. In 1970, White published his seminal and groundbreaking article “Toward a Black Psychology” in Ebony magazine. His article provided validation to African Americans and ethnic minorities from a Black American perspective and inspired individuals to question psychology and ask questions such as “How does traditional psychology address the mental health needs of ethnic minority individuals?”

White's pioneering work propelled individuals, such as Derald Wing Sue and Stanley Sue, to form other [Page 1370]ethnic psychological organizations such as the Asian American Psychological Association, the National Latina/o Psychological Association, and the Society of Indian Psychologists in the following years. ABPsi served as the forerunner of more ethnic organizations and of the creation of Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues). White's trailblazing actions gave support to others committed to social justice who also went on to become prominent leaders in the field of multicultural psychology (Wade Nobles, Allen Ivey, Stanley Sue, Derald Wing Sue, Thomas Parham, and William Parham to name a few).

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