Race and Excellence

The list of Chester Pierce's accomplishments alone cement him as a luminary in the field—and that is before one considers how foundational his theories about racism as an environmental pollutant are to modern mental health. This collection of interactive conversations sheds light on the man behind the impressive titles and oft-cited theories.

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Chester Pierce's list of accomplishments was second to none: graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, president of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, founding national chair of the Black Psychiatrists of America, and namesake of the American Psychiatric Association's Human Rights Award. Moreover, his musings about racism as an environmental pollutant, of the daily microtrauma that racially oppressed individuals endure, are foundational to modern mental health.


But who was the man behind the numerous professional achievements and seminal theories? And what can knowledge of his life, when evaluated in conjunction with his profound impact on psychiatry, reveal about the Black experience?


First published in 1998 and reprinted here with a new introduction, this collection of interactive discussions between Ezra Griffith and Chester Pierce takes readers on a journey through different stages of Pierce's life, including the following:


• His upbringing in the Long Island community of Glen Cove
• His undergraduate years at Harvard, including his athletic pursuits, membership in the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and early married life with Patsy Blanchet
• His training at the University of Cincinnati and experiences as a Navy psychiatrist
• His time at the Oklahoma Veterans Administration Hospital


What emerges is more than just a portrait of one particularly determined and talented man's path to achievement in the face of individual and institutional obstacles. We find distinct methods of managing the stress of racial discrimination. There is also a new way to approach narratives about Black lives. Anyone interested in gaining a greater understanding of how to evaluate the salience of race matters in people's lives and develop therapeutic approaches to coping with the stress will find this a particularly revelatory resource.