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VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2 PSYCHNEWS INTERNATIONAL July 1998
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SECTION B: GUEST EDITORIAL
THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION AND
ETHNIC MINORITY ISSUES:
A CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT (1)
Richard M. Suinn, PhD
Ethnic minority representation in the leadership of the
American Psychological Association is slow indeed. Nearly
80 years after the founding of APA, the first minority
took office as APA's 79th president in 1971. It was
another 15 years before the second minority was elected to
the office and over a decade has gone by before the
current election of an Asian American, myself, as
president of APA.
However, we are embarking on a year which suggests that
minority issues are receiving attention in APA - our own
Camelot of sorts. I would like to share some exciting
changes and also request input from readers of the
PsychNews International.
When I take office as president of APA in 1999, Rosie
Bingham, an African American, assumes responsibility as
president of the APA Division of Counseling Psychology
(Division 17); Steven James, a Native American, accepts
the presidency of the Psychology of Religion Division
(Division 36); Derald Wing Sue, an Asian American,
becomes president of the Society for the Psychological
Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45); Siang-Yang
Tan an Asian American will be president of the Society for
the Psychological Study of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual
Issues (Division 44); and Melba Vasquez, a Latina, takes
the leadership reins of Division 35, Psychology of Women.
In other words, every U.S. ethnic minority group is
represented by an incoming president of an APA Division.
In addition to the APA Divisions, inspection of APA's
Boards and Committees segment of governance shows another
setting in which an ethnic minority holds a leadership
position as chairperson. For example, Teresa LaFromboise a
Native American is currently the chair of the APA
Committee on the Structure and Function of Council, Joe
Martinez a Latino is chair of the Publications and
Communications Board, Melinda Garcia a Latina is chair of
the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, and Janis
Sanchez-Hucles a Latina is chair of the Committee on Urban
Initiatives.
Of interest to PsychNews International readers is the fact
that Sarah Miyahira an Asian American in Hawaii is chair
of the Committee on International Relations in Psychology.
This Committee's mission is to increase contacts between
psychologists in the U.S. "and their colleagues abroad...
to encourage and support the free circulation of...psycho-
logical ideas and information...promote exposure to world
psychological literature ... increase sensitivity to
cultural and linguistic variance...encourage the advance-
ment of psychological knowledge that is relevant to inter-
national affairs..."
APA is host and co-organizer of the 24th International
Congress of Applied Psychology which meets for the first
time in the United States, in San Francisco August 9-14,
1998. The curren t president of the International
Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) is Dr. Bernhard
Wilpert from Germany, and the president-elect is Dr.
Charles Spielberger (who served as president of APA in
1991). Readers will be interested in the fact that the
International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
will also be hosted by a U.S. university for the first
time. This meeting involving over 50 countries will be at
Western Washington University August 3-8, 1998 and I shall
be a participant. Current APA president Martin Seligman
has declared an interest in steps to promote world peace.
His initiative on Ethnopolitical Warfare is the theme for
an international conference taking place June 29 to July 3
in Derry, Northern Ireland. The focus will be on stages of
genocide. Hence APA will be a focus for international
activities this year.
Although APA welcomes international psychologists to full
membership, many international members opt for the
category of "International Affiliate." To date, members
represent several countries including Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands,
Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia,
Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, France,
Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong
Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait,
Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Naura, New
Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines,
Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,
Slovak Republic, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea,
Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, The
Netherlands, Trinidad, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, Venezuela, West Indies, Yemen
Arab Republic, and Zimbabwe.
Returning to APA's progress on minority participation,
the number of minorities in leadership roles surely makes
a statement: that minority members of the Association are
viewed as capable of leadership, that majority members
support having a minority to lead their programs, and
possibly that diversity is indeed valued and cherished. I
say possibly because a significant next step will be the
level to which future visible actions are accomplished.
As with any organization of major dimensions, successful
outcomes are accomplished by APA through the efforts of
many people - leaders and members and staff. Similarly,
failure to move ahead can be the result of reluctance on
the part of any of these contributors.
Our time ahead will be a testing of whether our
minorities are indeed facing our "Camelot". How much do
the various units that compose our Association share a
common interest in diversity goals? Will there be
concrete actions that put substance to public statements
of support? Will our own members who represent diversity
themselves take the opportunity to contribute energies to
constructive movement?
The Council of Representatives is the APA equivalent of
Congress and the voting body on policy matters. At their
recent meeting in Washington, D.C., time was set aside
for the delegates representing APA Divisions and State
and Provincial Psychological Associations to discuss how
to increase the numbers of ethnic minorities in their
units, and hence to increase the pool of minorities
available to serve in future Council positions. Soon
after, at a training conference for Divisional president-
elects, the very same topic was placed on the agenda by
the meeting planners. At a meeting of another part of the
APA governance structure (the joint meeting of APA Boards
and Committees), the Board of Convention Affairs agreed
to consider ways of making the next conventions "more
welcoming" to all new participants, including ethnic
minorities; the Committee on Structure and Function of
Council agreed to give recognition to those Divisions/
State/Provincial organizations that are achieving in-
creases in minority participation; and the Committee on
Ethnic Minority Affairs agreed to help me design special
awards to recognize educational institutions, Divisions,
State and Provincial Associations that are implementing
steps to help minorities succeed. In a recent audit, the
central office of the American Psychological Association
was found to be well ahead in equality in salaries for
its minority and women employee - a goal toward which the
Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Raymond Fowler had been
actively moving. Finally, my presidential convention in
Boston in 1999 will highlight two themes: ethnic minority
issues, and cancer issues. So the portents appear most
favorable for a new era in American Psychology that
focuses on ethnic minorities. And I am encouraging more
involvement of everyone.
I am issuing a public invitation for APA members, readers
of the PsychNews International, other psychologists, and
other professionals to help me brainstorm what specific
activities will move us ahead in the coming year
regarding ethnic minority issues. This is not a call for
a list of historical complaints, accusations, or
rhetoric. This is a call for creative ideas on action-
steps. This is not a call for what "APA" should do. In
the final analysis "APA" is every member; so it is
equally a call for what you can do...and ultimately how
we can work together. With the invitation to identify
goals comes the responsibility of thinking through how to
reach those goals, and the responsibility of contributing
personal efforts towards reaching these goals. Join me
and all the ethnic minority leaders who are intending to
make the coming time, our Camelot. I am also soliciting
ideas for keynote speakers for the 1999 Boston APA
convention.
If you are active in organizations, convey the need for
us to join our efforts. I can be contacted through: Dept.
of Psychology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO
80523, or email: Suinn@Lamar.colostate.edu. Let's make
the future a celebration of diversity!
Dr. Richard M. Suinn is president-elect of APA and
professor of psychology at Colorado State University. He
has served as mayor of his city, head of his Department,
and was on the U.S. Olympic Committee's Sport Psychology
Committee. He authored 8 books and over 120 articles on
stress, behavior therapy, sport psychology, & diversity.
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(1) This revised article first appeared as "Our
Magical Year!" in Communique, a Publication of the American
Psychological Association Public Interest Directorate
Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs, February, 1998.
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