Amanda Calhoun demands white friends meet her before knowing her husband

In 2022, Amanda Calhoun appeared on MSNBC's The ReidOut, discussing the importance of distancing oneself from family or friends who hold political views contrary to one's own. She expressed that this could be essential for mental health, especially in the context of encountering conservative relatives during the holiday season. Calhoun, who is the Chief Resident of Yale's Child Psychiatry Program, is known for her strong stance on systemic racism within the psychiatric field. Her activism includes speaking out against perceived inequities and biases, citing examples from her own experiences as a Black woman. After the death of George Floyd, Calhoun was a keynote speaker at Yale Medical School’s "White Coats for Black Lives" event, where around 300 physicians demonstrated their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. She articulated how her identity as a Black person in America is not protected by her medical credentials. The underlying theme of her activism revolves around advocating for Black representation in medicine and mental health. Calhoun's ongoing critiques of systemic racism lead her to state that she left her hometown due to the exclusionary behavior of white neighbors. In an X thread, she disclosed that white neighbors would often ignore her when she greeted them alone, prompting her to adopt a prerequisite for her husband's white friends: they must meet her first before they can befriend him. This gatekeeping stance reflects her broader view that white individuals cannot fully understand or support the experiences of Black individuals, which she sees as a reflection of entrenched racism in society. Moreover, her comments have sparked discussions around the ideological training of medical professionals, as seen in programs like the University of California, San Francisco's mandatory course on justice and advocacy in medicine. Calhoun's outspoken nature has drawn both support and backlash, but she remains committed to her views and wishes to use her platform to promote dialogue about support for Black voices in psychiatry and beyond, despite institutional pushback against her statements.