How can universal theories of human nature be based in white racism, or even more ridiculously, white supremacism? Given that Freud declared that all human beings by nature are prejudiced, including being racists regardless of one’s skin color—yes, non-whites are racist too—that is, no one gets a free pass on being racist on some level, he probably would not be surprised that whitey becomes the emotional whipping post in contemporary culture as an act of displacement.
In Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Freud underscores the universality of racism:
“Every time two families become connected by marriage, each of them thinks itself superior to or of better birth than the other. Of two neighbouring towns each is the other’s most jealous rival; every little canton looks down upon the others with contempt. Closely related races keep one another at arm’s length; the South German cannot endure the North German, the Englishman casts every kind of aspersion upon the Scot, the Spaniard despises the Portuguese. We are no longer astonished that greater differences should lead to an almost insuperable repugnance, such as the gallic people for the German, the Aryan for the Semite, and the white races for the coloured” (p. 101).
Now when it gets to recruiting people into psychoanalytic training and institute life, there are so many complex factors that come into play, to boil everything down to even suggesting that psychoanalytic institutes are racist because they keep non-whites out, is also absurd and simply untrue. Where is the empirical evidence for this? Where is the data that suggests non-whites are being discriminated against when they apply for psychoanalytic training at these so-called racist institutes? None is given. Maybe this is something that occurs at various places in the US I am unaware of. I have not witnessed it here in Canada. And surely analytic institutes in Brazil, Argentina, China, Japan, India, and even continental Europe (don’t confuse these nations as being lumped into the same category as being white—Italians, Pols, etc. would take offense in having their identity reduced to a color scheme) would not be discriminating based on skin color and ethnicity. The issue is that psychoanalysis is not attracting diverse applicants, many reasons for which I give in my recent article, available at this link:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6077171f228eb219180f62e9/t/60e08b1fa8a91e622e1fb2e2/1625328509755/Crisis+%26+Ideology+in+Psychoanalysis+IJCD+2021.pdf
If Woods’ article is really intended as an appeal to attract diversity, then we as a profession have been trying to do that for many years. It largely comes down to economics ad class, that is why we are in crisis in North America. Those who can afford the educational expense enter training or go into debt in order to get it. It is a tough sell these days. Her article implies that low representation of blacks or non-whites in general are implicated in systemic racism underpinned by “Whiteness.” It may be that black or other diverse peoples have better things to do than become analysts—such as enter into other professions they are attracted to. Their absence does not mean discrimination. Or that, on average, they do not have the academic qualifications—which would require improving schools so they can reach the high standards required for entry into those programs, and so forth. I address numerous reasons in my article linked to above, including why we need to attract diversity applicants to psychoanalytic training programs but without the racist overtones this article exudes.
Another untenable part of the article—how it even got past a blind review I have no idea—is that it implicates the entire modern economy in slavery and the cotton industry (therefore the institution of psychoanalysis). This framework has been debunked by serious economic historians and their critiques of the 1619 project, which has popularised these ideas—only about 7% of the US economy was based on cotton, and capitalists actually opposed slavery—those who supported it were part of a protectionist racket of wealthy elites who opposed free markets. So much for the entire edifice of US capitalism being predicated on slavery, let alone that the institution of psychoanalysis is even remotely based in enslaving others.
In closing, let us agree on the value of inclusion regardless of what skin color we have. Because I am aware that many voices do not speak out publicly about this nonsense out of fear of being cancelled, I wish to encourage you to speak up. I would also appreciate receiving any other articles (even if privately) that have to do with Whiteness Theory given I am writing on the topic and want to give due diligence to the diverse perspectives out there in the psychoanalytic literature.