50 Years of 'Even the Rat Was White'

Ricardo Guthrie and Judy Sundayo are coming to the San Diego Central Public Library on Tuesday, October 13, for a conversation about Robert V. Guthrie's book Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology. The event marks the 50th anniversary of the book, which first came out in 1976.

If you aren't familiar with the book, it's a piece of psychology history. Guthrie traced the contributions of Black psychologists while challenging the scientific racism that was embedded in mainstream psychology at the time. The title itself points to that: the idea that even the most basic research—down to the rats in the labs—was framed through a white lens. It's a look at who gets credited in the field and whose work gets left out.

There's a strong local connection here, too. Robert V. Guthrie was a psychologist, researcher, and educator who became the first Black faculty member at San Diego Mesa College. He was also a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists, an organization that grew out of the 1968 American Psychological Association convention when Black psychologists walked out in protest. The evening is being put on by the San Diego chapter of that same association, together with the library's Humanities Section.

The conversation is led by two people who know the subject from different angles. Ricardo Guthrie is a professor of social justice at Fisk University and Robert V. Guthrie's son. Judy Sundayo is a licensed clinical psychologist, a professor emeritus from San Diego Mesa College, and the president of the Association of Black Psychologists' San Diego chapter. They'll be talking through the book's history and why its arguments still matter today.

It runs from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM in the Shiley Special Events Suite at the San Diego Central Public Library, 330 Park Blvd, and it's free to attend. The organizers recommend it for ages 18 and over.