Let’s talk about something that people don’t say out loud enough: Racism is narcissism. Strip away the coded language, the dog whistles, the pseudo-intellectual justifications, and what you’re left with is the fragile, self-obsessed belief that you—because of your race—are inherently superior, more deserving, more important. It’s not logic. It’s not reason. It’s the emotional insecurity of a narcissist projected onto entire systems.
Think about the way racism functions. At its core, it’s the idea that your identity, the group you belong to, is the standard by which everything else should be measured. Other cultures? Inferior. Other perspectives? Wrong. Other histories? Inconvenient. Racism doesn’t just say, “I’m better.” It demands that everything outside of itself shrink, diminish, disappear. That is narcissistic behavior.
And like all narcissists, racists have an endless need for control. They rewrite history to make themselves the heroes, suppress inconvenient facts, and explode with rage when confronted with even the mildest form of accountability. They don’t just want to win; they want to be the only ones allowed to win. They demand praise for the bare minimum—like acknowledging another group’s humanity—while weaponizing victimhood whenever they’re challenged. Sound familiar? That’s narcissism.
Look at how racists react when their dominance is even slightly questioned. The panic over diversity? The idea that if white people aren’t the default in every space, they’re being “erased”? That’s a narcissist’s fear of no longer being the center of attention. The rage at anti-racism efforts, as if equality is some kind of personal attack? That’s a narcissist’s inability to tolerate a world that doesn’t revolve around them.
And just like narcissists, racists project their worst traits onto others. They scream about “reverse racism” because they assume everyone else is as obsessed with racial dominance as they are. They call equity efforts “special treatment” because they’ve mistaken their unearned advantages for the natural order. They claim to be the real victims while continuing to benefit from systems designed for their comfort.
At the end of the day, racism isn’t just ignorance. It’s not just hate. It’s the desperate, fragile ego of a narcissist who cannot function without feeling superior to someone else. And just like with any narcissist, you don’t coddle it, you don’t negotiate with it—you expose it, you dismantle it, and you make damn sure it never gets to hold power unchallenged again.
