Are white people narcissists?

See my parents are narcissists so I know all the tricks in the book and let’s look at it:

Lack of empathy — Check. White people pretty much have no empathy for black people, mixed race people and anyone not white. Sympathy maybe on occasion but no empathy. Like narcissists often it’s not malicious but completely oblivious. Black people and mixed race people like me spend their whole lives thinking about race and how to fit into the white dominated Britain. White people are completely unaware and mostly have absolutely no idea, no concept of the trauma and pain non white people carry around. And when confronted they don’t believe it, they ignore it.

Sense of entitlement- Check. White people feel entitled to everything. The widespread white privilege. White people see themselves everywhere on screen, in magazines, on stage, in books, in shops, on adverts and yet when threatened with sharing even a miniscule fraction of their space out comes the anger.

When one Sainsbury’s advert this Christmas dared to feature a black family the responses poured out: ‘I don’t see myself represented here’ ‘Where are the British people’

Same with dance group Diversity and their Black Lives Matter performance piece last year. Ofcom received a record number of complaints about the dance, tens of thousands of people complained.

Narcissists don’t like introspection. They have core insecurity and shame and cannot confront their deep seated issues.

White mediocrity beats black excellence every time. White people get by on being okay, good, fair whereas black people, mixed race people have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good.

If a black person is hired above a white person then it must be a diversity hire.

Fantasy — so many white people live in a fantasy world where they don’t think they’re racist. Where racism isn’t a social construct that permeates everything in our lives. So many white people feel comfort in thinking that ‘I’m not a bad, racist white person’ when they’re all complicit too. The concept of racial superiority is built into our society, white people’s superiority is conditioned into them from birth. Their fantasy world that this doesn’t affect them is distorted from reality.

Defensiveness when criticised — check. How many times have you heard ‘oh I didn’t mean it like that’ or ‘you’re being over-sensitive’ from a white person when you call them out on their behaviour? The classic white fragility. Or the arguing of technicalities to avoid accountability, both classic narcissistic traits. Narcissists can’t handle criticism and use any and all tactics to turn it around on the victim.

Gaslighting. — See above. I’ve had countless interactions with white people saying I don’t think that was racist, Racism doesn’t exist in Britain anymore, no need to be so angry about it, it was just a joke.

Racial gaslighting is much more common and bigger than just the individual interactions. The constant microaggressions, the constant doubting of your own reality, the constant way I’m made to feel like a foreigner in my own country. The country where I was born and raised (and my parents were born and raised as well). The endless ‘where are you really from?”The constant rhetoric of ‘Britain isn’t racist’. The constant denying of centuries of facts.

Demeans, intimidates, bullies, belittles — check. I’m not just talking about very overt racist people who call black people niggers and are physically violent towards black people. It comes back to the fantasy land where so many white people live, thinking they’re not racist. A white woman was interviewing me the other day about my work in music and said “I’m worried I’m going to say the wrong thing, I don’t want to offend.” I didn’t know what to say to her. This kind of question actually puts the pressure on non white people to consider white people’s feelings. It’s deeply inappropriate because it’s not about white people’s safety or security. What about mine? I’ve spent a lifetime considering white people’s feelings and ignoring my own.

Exxploits others without guilt or shame — check. White people have got famous from the talents of black people. A black woman Sister Rosetta Tharpe invented rock and roll. Black people invented blues, jazz, disco, soul, hip hop, rap, RnB and white people usurped them all. This isn’t just a decades old problem. I’m involved in the classical music industry and white people are constantly exploiting non white people’s work and talent for their gain. An American white man Larry Clark pretended to be a Japanese woman Keiko Yamada for the past decade to profit from calls for diversity. One of the world’s leading experts on black female composers who is herself a black woman has had her work plagiarised by a white man and white people constantly exploit her work and use it for their own gain.

I could go on but that’s enough examples of how narcissistic white people are. It’s worth considering. When you look at the behaviour of white people through the lens of narcissism it makes a lot of sense.

Don’t believe me? Check out this article on narcissism and decide for yourself.