But in a 1980 paper published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, the late psychiatrist Carl C. Bell, M.D., CCHP, pondered, “What characteristics cause an individual to accommodate to racist views which are in direct opposition to the value of a democratic free society?” The concept of the “narcissistic racist” was recently brought to light again in a widely shared Instagram post by Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu Iyamah, a user experience designer focused on racial justice education and decolonizing wellness. To better understand the association between racism and narcissism, mbg looked into Bell’s research and spoke with licensed psychologist Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D., and psychoanalyst Babita Spinelli, L.P. He describes various traits of narcissism that manifest into racism, including a grandiose sense of self-importance, a lack of empathy for others, and a likelihood to respond to criticism with defensiveness or indifference. Many of these are rooted in the narcissist’s need for control and power. “It is this need for a sense of absolute control which the racist feels justifies his self-given right to violate another’s ’territory’ by either a physical attack, segregation, or discrimination,” the study says. “The ’territory’ (in this country) being, for example, the individual’s right to adequate health care, education, and housing wherever he can afford it.” “The main stressor that narcissists have to manage is the threat to their ego and sense of superiority,” Durvasula explains. Anything that threatens their fragile egos and puts them in a vulnerable state (i.e., losing a job, marital issues, etc.) may cause them to react with victimhood, shame, and rage, she says. “They need someone to blame because they cannot take responsibility.” A racist would take it out on people of different races, and a narcissist would attach false rhetorics to groups of people in order to justify their blame, Durvasula says. Bell does note there’s another type of socially misinformed racist that may not have NPD and instead is a product of systemic racism. They are socially misinformed at an early age, though with enough exposure to different people and cultures, Bell says they can start to unlearn their ignorant beliefs. Narcissistic individuals lack all three aspects, and Durvasula says it is likely that racist individuals don’t care about those around them and save the worst of their hatred for people who are different from them. “This is similar to how a racist would dismiss the reality of racism and attempt to normalize racist practices,” Spinelli explains. In rare cases, both experts say a narcissist may change, but it takes several years of intense therapeutic work. This may help them understand their core traumas, attachment issues, and early dynamic issues that led them to be racist, Durvasula says, but most often they won’t be willing or interested in discussing their emotions in therapy. Do not invest energy into changing the narcissist’s view, Spinelli says. As previously mentioned, it’s important to recognize that not everybody with narcissistic traits has NPD. Most of us have some levels of narcissism within us, and if we can recognize how our internalized racism may be rooted in narcissism, it may provide insights into what type of inner work we need to be doing to heal our racism. But the connection between racism and NPD is also an important reminder that dismantling racism must go beyond individual-level change. The idea that racism is rooted in ignorance alone is too simple, Durvasula says. Since ignorance means a lack of education, that suggests people can seek more information and change their attitude. “That rarely happens,” she says. Racism is deeper—it is privilege mixed with entitlement, contempt, fragility, shame, fear, arrogance, lack of empathy, hypersensitivity, and ignorance, she says. While self-reflection is a critical part of committing to anti-racism, Spinelli recommends focusing on efforts like educating, challenging normalized racism, dismantling systems that embolden racism, and working toward changing the policies and procedures that keep them in place.
