Alvin Francis Poussaint (born May 15, 1934) is an American psychiatrist known for his research on the effects of racism in the black community.
[1] He is a noted author, public speaker, and television consultant, and dean of students at Harvard Medical School.
[5] Experiences with racism fueled his career areas of work which focused on the mental health of African Americans and their encounters with racial bias.
However, in 1965 he left UCLA to become the Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi.
He stayed in Mississippi for two years before going to Tufts University Medical program where he was the faculty director of psychiatry.
[5] In the 1980s, Poussaint became very well known for his work as a media consultant on scripts and storylines for many black sitcoms, such as The Cosby Show and A Different World.
He became close friends with Bill Cosby to ensure that the show promoted a positive healthy and realistic image of black families.
In fact, it must be whites who are insecure and filled with self-hatred, since they are the ones who need to oppress blacks in order to cope with life.
During the civil rights movement sexual relations between Blacks and White began to form, and so he says from 1964 to 1965 many of the projects "disintegrated" because of these feelings each race had towards one another.
[citation needed] While working as the Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi, Poussaint was very observant of those around him.
Poussaint describes how white women helping in the civil rights movements appears like a rejection that they have of their own communities.
The black community did not want white female workers to help in the first place because they believed their presence would cause inherent problems.
Some white female workers coped with this, but a majority went back home because they couldn't handle the stress.