Dear White People, Stop Gaslighting Us, We didn’t “Imagine” Racism
Stop treating racism like it’s an arbitrary construct and not our lived experience
Gaslighting is a term that refers to an individual psychologically manipulating another person. The person is made to question their reality and second guess everything that’s happening around them. It has been used in the context of intimate relationships but it can happen within friendships, work colleagues or family members.
It can simply show up as someone starting an argument but then later claiming that you were the one that started it. It’s making you re-think what you experience by saying “well you over-reacted!”
The ultimate point is that it makes you question your judgement and think “did that really happen? Maybe I did over-react?” Even when you know you didn’t but the other person is making you confused.
What is racial gaslighting?
Well, it’s the same principle but applied to race. In her book Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience, Shelia Wise Rowe explains “Racial gaslighting describes the ways individuals or institutions try to manipulate or question people of colour’s sense of reality, often to assert or maintain control, superiority or power.”
