Psychology and whiteness itself

Abstract

In the aftermath of its Apology to People of Color (American Psychological Association, 2021b), the American Psychological Association recently committed itself to a long-term process by which it aims to address racial equity within the field of psychology as well as society more broadly (Andoh, 2022). In service of these ends, what can psychology learn from an analysis of the discursive framework within which it conducts its racism-related work? This critical conceptual article begins with the premise that all professional discourse-the concepts, language, and logic structures by which a field creates and communicates knowledge-inevitably bears the markings of the society in which it was established. Examination of psychological discourse, therefore, can reveal information not only about social hierarchies but also about the field's potential reproduction of them (even when the field intends to do otherwise). Proceeding from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes decolonial premises, a Foucauldian discursive framework, and a sociohistorical approach to whiteness, the article will show how psychological scholarship on racism is constrained by the delimited representations of whiteness that are featured in its discourse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).