As I write this at Monitor press time, our nation is in turmoil over the murder of George Floyd. Americans are outraged by the police brutality that steals the lives of unarmed black men and women, at the same time that people of color are disproportionately contracting COVID-19 and losing their jobs as the pandemic undermines the American economy.
This historic tipping point presents us with an urgent challenge—as an association, as a profession and as individual psychologists—to use our expertise to address the discrimination and racism that have resulted in long-standing social, economic and political inequalities. APA recognizes that an important aspect of this work is to examine the role that the field and association have played in perpetuating racism. Working together, we can make an impact. Toward that goal, APA has a three-tiered plan to address these deep inequities:
- Communicating our vast research. APA will make psychological science and its applications to real-world bias, discrimination and trauma highly visible, communicating the association’s position regarding the incident involving George Floyd, as well as our stance on racial bias broadly. This will include articles in public-facing publications, blogs, podcasts and media interviews.
- Reducing police violence. We plan to appoint an APA Presidential Task Force to develop science-based recommendations to reduce the incidence of police killings, particularly of unarmed black men.
- Addressing systemic and institutional racism. With the understanding that racism dates back hundreds of years in this country, APA is making a long-term commitment to use psychological science to reduce racism and discrimination. Because of the immense nature of these issues, we are giving careful thought to the aspects on which APA can have the greatest unique and positive impact.
Across all these levels, APA’s ability to form partnerships with other organizations and stakeholders, as well as tap into the broad expertise of our members, is critical. If you have thoughts and recommendations on ways psychology can help ameliorate this crisis, send them to APA's Pandemic of Racism.
APA is committed to taking actions that not only garner attention now but also have sustainable and long-lasting effects. It will take all of us to help move our nation forward.
Join us. Our nation’s future is at stake.
