Black voices in physics: Philip Phillips

This interview is part of PT‘s “Black voices in physics” series of Q&As with Black physicists.

Philip Phillips, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), divides his time between topics in theoretical high-energy and condensed-matter physics. Having lived in Trinidad and Tobago until age 10, he feels “some sense of solace that the situation in the US is not the only reality that exists for Black people.” With that perspective, he sees it as his responsibility to work to improve things in his adopted country.

PT: Have you faced discrimination as a Black physicist?

PHILLIPS: Yes, but it’s not the sort of thing I talk about. I am sort of an eccentric person, and being eccentric and Black is a double whammy. That hasn’t always worked out so well for me. It is often unclear what people are reacting to. But here at UIUC, I have great students, and they know that if they work for me, they will have to take huge risks by working on problems that do not have definite answers. Those are the problems I am drawn to.

PT: Do you feel you are accepted by the physics community?

PHILLIPS: To some extent yes. But the reality in your head is not necessarily consistent. You have to look in the rearview mirror all the time. In the US, you never know what people are thinking. You never know what is true for you. For example, my white colleagues don’t have to show they own a bicycle when they ride across campus. But I do. And it goes on from there. The day in, day out weight of being Black is tangible.

PT: What strategies do you think are effective in combating racism and bias in physics?

PHILLIPS: When I encounter racism, I speak out against it, no matter who it is against. I write letters. I advocate that there is a role for physics in curbing police brutality: Physics societies should not host meetings in cities that have a history of police brutality . The American Physical Society committee on meetings has adopted this. This is potentially big. It could be a major economic driver. I force myself to do things like this because if physics doesn’t have anything to say about society, then it’s useless.

And I actively recruit Blacks into physics. That is the only way to change the perception that they cannot do physics. The first Black person to get a PhD in the US was Edward Bouchet. He earned his PhD in physics from Yale in 1876. If he had been allowed to be a professor, Blacks would be viewed differently today, and we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.

PT: Do you think the heightened awareness and support for Black Lives Matter will make a difference in US society?

PHILLIPS: I don’t know. I see a lot of lip service, but I am only interested in real proposals and seeing that they get done.