Psychiatrist says remarks to Yale audience about killing white people were hyperbole

A psychiatrist who in an April lecture for the Yale School of Medicine said she “had fantasies” about killing white people defended her remarks this week, arguing that they were meant to be a hyperbole and “metaphor to evoke emotion.”

The April 6 livestream talk, audio of which was leaked online over the weekend, was titled “Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind” and was initially advertised by the school as a way to engage in conversations on race in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, which sparked months of civil unrest across the country. 

During the event, Aruna Khilanani was scheduled to discuss the “Karen” and “right not to wear masks” videos that have circulated online in the past year, according to The Washington Post. 

During the address, Khilanani reportedly said she “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.”

She also expressed that talking to white people about issues of race was “useless.” 

The speech prompted backlash as it circulated online, including from social media users who called her statements racist and “evil.” 

However, Khilanani told the Post this week that her violent fantasy was meant to be an exaggerated metaphor, adding, “My style of language is different and expressive, with fluidity between conscious and unconscious, time, and uses Masala (exaggeration) for punch and comedy.” 

“It’s why we love Richard Pryor, telenovela forms and rap,” she added. “I believe it makes this conversation more relatable across generations.”

Khilanani also said she didn’t think talking to white people about race was actually “useless” in practice, adding in an email to the Post, “If I really believed talking to White people was futile, I wouldn’t devote my time to writing a series about race and healing our country — starting with the conscious mind of White people.” 

“I am doing it because I care,” she said. 

Despite the backlash from many, some came to Khilanani’s defense, arguing that her comments were important and that video of her April talk should be shared publicly. 

In response, the Yale School of Medicine said in a statement that school leaders reviewed the address after “several faculty members expressed concern to the Yale School of Medicine’s Office of Academic and Professional Development and the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion about the content of the talk.”

The school said it found the “tone and content” of the speech to be “antithetical to the values of the school.” 

“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 school said, adding that it “ultimately decided to post the video with access limited to those who could have attended the talk— the members of the Yale community.”

The school said it had also added a disclaimer to the video warning audiences that it “contains profanity and imagery of violence” and, “Yale School of Medicine expects the members of our community to speak respectfully to one another and to avoid the use of profanity as a matter of professionalism and acknowledgment of our common humanity. Yale School of Medicine does not condone imagery of violence or racism against any group.”