An all-encompassing, insightful and wry look at living in a racist world, by a leading Black British voice in the academy and in the media
Take a step through the looking-glass to a strange land, one where Piers Morgan is a voice worth listening to about race, where white people buy self-help books to help them cope with their whiteness, where Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are seen by the majority of the population as ‘the right (white) man for the job’. Perhaps you know it. All the inhabitants seem to be afflicted by serious delusions, like that racism doesn’t exist and if it does it can be cured with a one-hour inclusion seminar, and bizarre collective hallucinations, like the widely held idea that Britain’s only role in slavery was to abolish it.
But there is a serious side too. Black and brown people suffer from a greater number of mental health difficulties, caused in no small part by living in a racist society. But being Black and brown has itself been pathologized by the young field of psychology. Society cannot face up to the racism at its heart and in its history, so the delusions, irrationalities and hallucinations it conjures up to avoid doing so can only best be described as a psychosis, and the costs are being borne by the sons and daughters of that racist history.
Kehinde Andrews is your piercing, wry and not a little funny guide back to sanity, unpicking the absurd and outrageous lies society tells to keep up the status quo and The Psychosis of Whiteness is your lifeboat out of this topsy-turvy world.
Review: Kehinde Andrews’ revelatory masterpiece bursts the bubble of pseudo-intellectual charm that surrounds and disguises the delusional philosophy of the racist societies we live in — Danny Dorling
The Psychosis of Whiteness serves as a testament to Kehinde Andrews’ exceptional ability to shed light on the far-reaching mechanisms of racism — David Lammy MP
A crucial, incisive and highly accessible academic commentary on racism and the pernicious processes that keep it in place. For those lulled by the idea of progress, The Psychosis of Whiteness will tear the scales from their eyes — Professor Nicola Rollock
A phenomenal book – brilliant, revelatory, rebellious, rigorous, informative, entertaining and bloody funny. It has become one of my very favourite books. This is an important piece of work that will better our nation and better our understanding of this world — Nels Abbey
Compelling … Kehinde Andrews’s new book, The Psychosis of Whiteness, is as provocative as his frequent TV clashes with Piers Morgan … and offers many rich observations — Afua Hirsch * Observer *
This is an important book, an honest book, and a book that anyone who disagrees with Kehinde would do well to read. I’m personally so grateful to Kehinde for presenting his experiences and insights in this way, because he offers a truly vital perspective on racism and racial inequity. For anyone seeking to empower themselves over a white supremacy that seeks to consume us all, this is genuinely an essential read. Witty, energising and refreshing, The Psychosis of Whiteness is a book of anti-racist activism from one of our most important thinkers in the field — Jeffrey Boakye
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Publication date: 03/12/2024
