Thoughts On Racism — Racial Trauma Porn
Now that I’ve got your attention, what were you hoping to read when you saw the title?
Was it an article about how racism is used in pornography?
No it’s not about that.
Was it about how Black People have been hyper sexualised even from a very young age?
No it’s not about that either.
In fact this article is nothing about sex at all. I bet you’re disappointed now.
I want to bring to your attention something far more insidious on the topic of racism; this is the inherent gratification many white people seem to get from reading the experiences of racial trauma inflicted on Black people and people of colour.
Many of my fellow anti racism writers regularly write about our current and past experiences of racism. Our hope is that we can convince you racists and not-racists that racism is real, it is just as real now as it has ever been, and its systemic and institutionalised nature needs to be eradicated from society.
What I see are a number of worrying signs in the comments of our articles.
There are the usual trolls and naysayers who seem to get a kick from reading the articles just so that they can say something negative. I find this somewhat perverse as their need to engage us in steadily increasing abusive dialogue seems to be a form of self-gratification. I feel sorry for these people because they are lost in their perversion and really are in need of psychological help. Fortunately these are in the minority and we anti racism ambassadors have developed coping skills to be able to deal with them.
What I find more disturbing are the majority of those who read our articles and respond with platitudes such as:
“oh, how awful that must be for you”
or
“I can’t believe someone would do/say/act that way towards you”
or even
“that makes me so angry”
but they never move from their position of “I’m not racist”.
Instead of recognising that they also think and act in the ways we have written about, or have witnessed racism targeted towards another and have not done anything to stand against what is being perpetrated; they wait to read their next instalment of racial trauma porn, so that they once more can shake their heads and exclaim “I’m glad I’m not like that!” while all the time thinking, “I’m glad that didn’t happen to me.”
White people it’s time to stop!
I will continue writing about my experiences, because silence on this topic will only allow it to be buried once more under a mountain of denial of the existence of racism; or for those who recognise it does exist, that you will conclude it’s not as bad as we say and nowhere nearly as bad as it once was.
Please stop getting emotional self-gratification from what we are writing and start writing your own stories of your victories in the fight against racism. I would love to read stories of how you called out your Auntie Mary and Uncle Richard for their historically racist language, or the friends you called into understanding the toxicity of racism and how they are perpetuating this by their inaction, or how you are working to change the systemic and institutional racism in the organisations and institutions where you work and where you study.
Please start writing about your anti racism and allyship experiences, because with your writings and with others reading them you will encourage them to take their first step towards anti-racism.
I thank you in advance for your stories and testimonies of your successes, your challenges and your failures. Only by trying and failing can we learn what it truly means to be antiracist.
This is an interesting article I found on Black Trauma Porn in the entertainment industry. It's well worth a read!
