Robert Williams (psychologist) facts for kids

Robert Lee Williams II (February 20, 1930 – August 12, 2020) was a smart and important professor. He taught psychology and African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He was a key person in the history of African-American Psychology.

Dr. Williams started the Black Studies department at Washington University. He was its first leader and created a learning plan that other schools copied. He was known for speaking out against unfairness in IQ tests. He even created the word "Ebonics" in 1973. He also made the Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity. He wrote over sixty articles and several books. He helped start the Association of Black Psychologists and was its second president.

Early Life and Family

Robert Lee Williams was born in Biscoe, Arkansas, on February 20, 1930. This was during the Jim Crow Era, a time when Black people faced many unfair rules. His parents did not go to school. His father, Robert L. Williams, built and fixed machines as a millwright. He died when Robert was only five years old.

Robert's mother, Rosie L. Williams, worked in white families' homes. She taught him how important education was. Robert always said his mother was a big reason he loved learning. He had one sister, Dorothy Jean. In 1948, when he was 18, he married Ava L. Kemp. They had eight children, 19 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren! All eight of his children went to Washington University. Four became psychologists, and the others became a nurse, a journalist, a teacher, and a leather craftswoman.

His Education Journey

Robert Williams finished Dunbar High School in Little Rock at age sixteen. He then went to Dunbar Junior College for one year. He left college after taking an IQ test. The test score was lower than he expected. It suggested he should work with his hands instead of going to college.

Williams later said this made him "lose [his] confidence for a long time." This moment became very important in his life. It inspired his most famous work, like the Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity. He earned his first degree from Philander Smith College in 1953. He got his master's degree in educational psychology from Wayne State University in 1955. At that time, many graduate schools in the South were still separated by race. In 1961, he earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

His Career and Impact

Early Work

In 1955, Dr. Williams started working at Arkansas State Hospital. He was the first African-American psychologist hired at a state mental health center in Arkansas. After getting his doctorate in 1961, he worked at the Jefferson Barracks Veterans Affairs Hospital in St. Louis. He was an associate chief psychologist there until 1966. Later, he directed a hospital project in Spokane, Washington. He also advised the National Institute of Mental Health.

Starting the Association of Black Psychologists

In 1968, Dr. Williams helped create the Association of Black Psychologists (ABP). He became its second president. The ABP was formed because some psychologists felt the American Psychological Association (APA) supported racism. The ABP believed its members were "Black people first and psychologists second."

Dr. Williams wanted Black psychology to create "new definitions, ideas, and ways of understanding behavior." He believed these ideas must come from the "heart of the Black experience." As ABP President, he created a "10 Point Plan." He sent it to 300 colleges. This plan helped many Black students join and succeed in psychology programs across the U.S.

Teaching and Leading at Washington University

From 1970 to 1992, he was a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He taught psychology and African and African-American Studies. He started the Black Studies department there. He was its first director and created a program that became a model for other universities.

As the head of Black Studies, Williams made the program strong. He added honors and awards. He also connected the program with other college groups. Under his leadership, students could travel and study internationally. He also started an Institute for Black Studies. There, he did research with his students. Other experts described him as respected, strong, and caring. He was a leader in the Black psychology community. He inspired young Black students to follow their academic dreams, especially at Washington University, which was mostly white.

After retiring from Washington University, he taught at the University of Missouri in Columbia from 2001 to 2004. He was also the interim director of Black Studies there from 2002 to 2003. In 2014, Washington University honored him with a conference. In 2017, he received a Legacy Award from the university.

The Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity

Dr. Williams was one of the first to say that standard tests were unfair to Black people. He believed that white people scored higher on IQ tests because the tests were made for their culture. This led him to create his own test, the Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity. He thought Black people would score higher on his test.

He made the test using words and experiences from African-American life. It had 100 questions and was first called "Danger: Testing and De-humanizing Black Children." White Americans usually scored lower on this test than African Americans. But Williams did not say this meant white people were less smart.

His ideas were similar to other arguments at the time. For example, in 1977, the NAACP supported a lawsuit in San Francisco. They wanted to stop Black students from being called "mentally retarded" based on standard test scores. Dr. Williams gave expert help in this case. He said, "My kids need education, not testing. If they are tested, the tests should help us understand what their educational needs are."

Some people criticized his ideas. They said he was trying to lower standards for Black students. He even got a threatening letter once. But Williams argued that standard IQ tests often give "death sentences" to Black children. He said these tests unfairly label children early in life. He explained that when he did well in school, people said his low test scores were a "fluke." He believed standard IQ tests do not truly measure what Black students can do or learn.

Creating the Term Ebonics

On January 26, 1973, Dr. Williams created the word "Ebonics." It combines "ebony" (meaning dark wood) and "phonics" (the study of sounds in language). He used the term at a conference he organized in St. Louis. The conference was about "The Cognitive and Language Development of Black Children."

Williams defined Ebonics as the way West African, Caribbean, and U.S. slave descendants of African origin communicate. He wrote about his ideas in his 1975 book, Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks. The book explained the African roots of Ebonics. It also argued against the idea that Ebonics was just slang or bad English.

What Ebonics Meant

Williams' work on Ebonics became very famous. This was especially true after Oakland, California, recognized Ebonics as an official language. This happened for 28,000 African-American students in their school district on December 18, 1996. Ebonics has been a topic of debate for a long time. Some language experts question Williams' work. Others say his ideas might harm Black children by lowering their school goals.

Black Personality Theory

Dr. Williams also developed his "Black Personality Theory." He shared this in his second book, The Collective Mind: Toward an Afrocentric Theory of Black Personality. His theory said that you cannot understand Black personality using only European ideas. Instead, the Black Personality Theory would use an African idea of working together as a group. This was very different from the Western idea of focusing on individuals.

Racial Scripting

In his book, "Racism Learned at an Early Age Through Racial Scripting," Williams explained "racial scripting." He argued that white children learn racist ideas when they are young. Parents, schools, and religious groups teach these "scripts." Williams defined racial scripts as "myths and stereotypes individuals form about ethnic and racial groups to which they do not belong." He believed these ideas learned in childhood can shape how adults see others. In his book, Williams pointed out several myths and stereotypes that create these racial scripts.

Public Appearances

Dr. Williams was often in the public eye. He appeared on TV shows with famous hosts like Dan Rather, Phil Donahue, and Montel Williams. Many major newspapers wrote about his work. His ideas were even used as a theme for an episode of the TV show Good Times.

Works

• Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks, Institute of Black Studies, (1975)
• The Collective Mind: Toward an Afrocentric Theory of Black Personality (1981)
• “Racism Learned at an Early Age through Racial Scripting” (2007)
• History of the Association of Black Psychologists: Profiles of Outstanding Black Psychologists (2008)

See also

• Cultural psychology