How I Know White People are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist

by Dr. Jonathan Lassiter

This psychologist is frustrated.

In the final stretch of his doctoral internship, Dr. Jonathan Mathias Lassiter had just one more milestone to complete—the diversity project—where candidates insert themselves into a situation in which they’d experience what it’s like to be a minority. Surprisingly, the all-white training committee failed him! They concluded that the program’s only Black intern did not understand diversity. Frustrated and panicked, he thought, These white people are crazy.

In How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories, Dr. Lassiter pulls back the curtain on the mental health system and reveals the hurdles that Black psychologists and students are forced to endure in the field. He tackles how white ideology has harmed Black patients and how it dominates America’s mental health practices.

As a Black gay man working as a psychologist under culturally insensitive supervisors and colleagues in America, he grows frustrated with the exclusive talk of Sigmund Freud and the overall narrowness of psychological studies. All this takes a mental and physical toll on him.

Using his expertise in research, his own therapy, and keeping a healthy dose of hip-hop and R&B in his ears, Dr. Lassiter discovered how we can center culture in our healing. Through a series of essays, he demands that the lived and cultural experiences of people of color, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities are properly represented within psychology practices so that we can better understand, live in, and navigate this frustrating world.

In this thought-provoking, funny, and searing indictment of the mental health system for patients, students, and professionals alike, How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories will leave you thinking differently about the psychologists in your life.

Genres: Nonfiction

Audible Audio

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a frustrating but important book. This has elements of a traditional memoir: there’s anecdotal stories shared, light humor and a sense of the environment that produced the author.
Dr. Lassiter shares his struggles in his pursuit of a doctorate in psychology. His experiences academically feel both horrifying and relatable. The anecdotal stories share an undercurrent of humor that keeps this moving and prevents the narrative from devolving into rage. The overall narrative packs a punch and it’s clear that’s the authors intent. He wants the reader to feel his shock, horror and frustration with his various challenges. As is common in Black culture the author is fairly direct and doesn’t pull punches when calling out racism.

My only real critique would be that this entire book feels like it’s written to and for a white audience. That’s not necessarily a negative but as a Black person navigating a racist healthcare system in a racist country that is currently embracing fascism, I wish more of the text was designed for a Black audience.

This audiobook is narrated by the author, Dr. Jonathan Lassiter. Dr Lassiter has a rich, full and melodious voice. He is able to effectively hold the listeners attention. In the case of nonfiction dealing with this subject matter, it’s a bonus to have the author as the narrator. This allows the reader to hear for themselves what the author stresses and pauses after saying.

Thank you to Dr. Jonathan Lassiter, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

[Terror F · Rating 5 out of 5]

“How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories” is an incisive and compelling collection by Dr. Jonathan Lassiter that blends personal narrative, social critique, and professional insight in a way that feels both deeply human and academically sharp. As a Black psychologist, Lassiter offers a rare window into how race, mental health, and systemic inequity collide, not in abstract theory, but in lived experience.

His writing is bold and often biting, yet it’s also layered with vulnerability and humor. The essays range from moving reflections on identity and resilience to sharply observed commentaries on whiteness and the structures that uphold it. At its best, the book challenges readers to sit with discomfort and confront hard truths about race, power, and psychology itself.

But this book doesn’t just challenge readers; it engages them. It’s a mirror, a critique, and a call for deeper understanding — written with a voice that feels both intimate and universal.

A powerful and necessary read for anyone interested in race, mental health, and the complexities of being human.

[Alexis A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got an arc of this audiobook from NetGalley, here is my honest review:

How I know white people are crazy and other stories by Dr. Jonathan Lassiter takes us through his journey of becoming a psychologist. But as one of the few black men in the field he gives us many examples of the hurdles he had to go through simply because of his race. Not only that Dr. Lassiter goes over the many ways the health care industry was not made with black people or any persons of color in mind. This book definitely hit my heart, to read another story of the inequality and just down right racism people have to face on a daily basis is soul crushing. One of the things that I somewhat related to was when he spoke of “white guilt” as a lesser melanated Hispanic I haven’t gone through some of the same discriminative experiences say my friends have and I have had guilt about that in my life. But I will listen to Dr. Lassiter and use my privilege to continue to talk about inequality in our country and the justice all persons of color deserve.