Yale University witnessed a shocking lecture from an invited psychiatrist who shared her fantasies of “unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way,” forcing the school to restrict access to the talk as it goes against the values of the university.
Dr. Aruna Khilanani held the online lecture, The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind, in a weekly forum for faculty and staff at the School of Medicine’s Child Study Center on April 6. An audio recording of the forum made the rounds online after New York Times writer Bari Weiss posted it on Substack last Friday.
Fox News reported that Khilanani, who is not affiliated with Yale, started off with a warning to her audience, saying “I’m gonna say a lot of things, and it will probably provoke a lot of responses, and I want you to just maybe observe them in yourself.”
She then discussed “a psychological dynamic” between white people and persons of color that’s been infuriatingly on repeat. Khilanani referred to the familiar exchange where people of color explain racism to white men or women who would later deny or reject such claims. If the person of color gets angry or irritated, white people would then use those emotions against them, citing that they are crazy or too emotional.
Intense Fantasies
In the online lecture, Khilanani expressed extremely negative thoughts and feelings towards white people, especially when it comes to the futility of talking to them about racial inequality.
“This is the cost of talking to white people at all — the cost of your own life, as they suck you dry… There are no good apples out there. White people make my blood boil,” she said.
She also shared that five years ago, she took actions to relieve herself of the stress of having to go through such situations.
“I systematically white-ghosted most of my white friends, and I got rid of the couple white BIPOCs [Black and Indigenous people and people of color] that snuck in my crew, too,” she said.
“I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step, like I did the world a favor,” Khilanani added.
‘Antithetical’ to Yale Values
Several faculty members raised concerns after the controversial lecture. School of Medicine officials consulted with the chairwoman of the study center to investigate the issue and, upon reviewing the talk, they have concluded that Khilanani’s views go against school values.
“In deciding whether to post the video, we weighed our grave concern about the extreme hostility, imagery of violence, and profanity expressed by the speaker against our commitment to freedom of expression,” the university’s statement said.
This resulted in the video receiving limited access. Only those who have attended the talk within the Yale community can view the lecture again.
Khilanani responded to the news in an email Saturday, saying that her words were taken out of context to “control the narrative.” The New York City-based psychiatrist explained that her lecture “used provocation as a tool for real engagement.”
“My speaking metaphorically about my own anger was a method for people to reflect on negative feelings. To normalize negative feelings. Because if you don’t, it will turn into a violent action.”
She has also posted numerous TikTok videos addressing the controversy. She said that Yale has suppressed her talk about race and she even tried to call the university to release the video. Khilanani asserted that they must be trying to protect themselves from any repercussions.