Thinking a black person looks similar to another??

I have been dealing with the ocd intrusive thought theme of thinking a person from a race looks similar to another person from the same race for a long time now but it’s been occurring a lot more recently. I am mixed race myself (Jamaican black and white British) and know that I myself am not racist but I am also aware that not being fundamentally racist doesn’t mean that a person can’t or doesn’t have racial prejudice within them as it is highly unavoidable. I know that I don’t think that all black people look the same and that that is racist but am I racist for this: I was watching a video on TikTok and one of my friends posted a video of her and some friends dancing and I thought one of the girls looked similar to a popular black celebrity journalist. I thought they looked similar because they were possibly both the same ethnicity- as in from the same tribe or country as some of my other black friends have said that someone they don’t know looks Nigerian or Congolese etc and that wasn’t racist. I decided to find out the ethnicity of the journalist and found out she was Nigerian and I thought she was Congolese which made it worse because I thought she was Congolese which made me think I thought all Congolese people have to look a certain way. I know that it’s not racist to think two people even if they’re from the same race look the same. I’m just quite stressed to be honest and can’t get this thought/ topic out of my head at the minute as this topic is quite persistent at the moment. PS: does anyone else’s intrusive thoughts come in topics from time to time and then move on??

Shredder

Date posted: 1y

You’re not racist. A true racist wouldn’t have any regard for some else’s feelings which you clearly do. A good friend won’t look into it that much but someone who is not your friend will weaponize it against you, typically. It seems that you are a thoughtful and considerate person which is far from a racist. Hope this helps

Fiona06

Date posted: 1y

@Shredder But the thing is I don’t really know the girl in the TikTok or her friend. What if I’m subconsciously racist to people I don’t know.

Shredder

Date posted: 1y

@Alexis06 Racism is definitely a hot button topic in today’s age that your OCD latches onto. I had the same problem during college during the BLM protests. I just started to overthink everything, man. But it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. If you said something, and someone thinks you’re a racist, then that’s just how you are going to be viewed. A good friend will ask you to clarify or not claim that you’re a racist in the first place. I’ve had this a lot with different people, but none of my real friends who are international have ever thought I was racist. People including your OCD are going to weaponize anything they can. You would know if you’re a racist because you would hate someone just because of their race. Which I gather from your response is not what you believe in.

sophia70

Date posted: 1y

I get what you mean I always fear that I am racist or thinking that people of look all the same ( I don’t actually think that though) I also do not support any racism of any kind.

bruceWayne1

Date posted: 1y

You aren’t racist for this, if that was the case then I’m racist against everyone 😭😭I’m Hispanic , and whenever I see other Hispanic people I also point out ones that look similar to Hispanic celebrities and then think well since they look like them, they might also be Mexican! Or Cuban ect ect , u aren’t racist for this but ocd doesn’t like that answer , js dont worry abt it man

Be a part of the largest OCD Community

Share your thoughts so the Community can respond