We live in a strange, looking-glass world, 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, and where Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are admired by millions as ‘the right (white) man for the job’. That’s the view of sociologist Kehinde Andrews, who came to Intelligence Squared in October 2023 to talk about his new book The Psychosis of Whiteness: Surviving the Insanity of a Racist World. He argued that the inhabitants of this world seem to be afflicted by serious delusions: for example, that racism doesn’t exist and if it does it can be cured with a one-hour inclusion seminar, as well as bizarre collective hallucinations, such as the widely held idea that Britain’s only role in slavery was to abolish it.

In conversation with psychiatrist Femi Oyebode Andrews explained that the delusions, irrationalities and hallucinations that society conjures up to avoid facing up to the racism at its heart and in its history can best be described as a psychosis, with the costs being borne by the inheritors of that racist history. Black and brown people suffer from a greater number of mental health difficulties, caused in no small part by trying to survive in a racist society.

Join us as Andrews unpicks the lies society tells itself to maintain the status quo and offers a lifeboat out of this topsy-turvy world.

Praise for Kehinde Andrews’ The Psychosis of Whiteness: Surviving the Insanity of a Racist World

‘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

‘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