Are Black People Engaging In “Trauma Olympics” When We Express Our Pain?

Does an expression of frustration really mean we are ignoring other cultures’ pain?

During Black History Month, I’m going to attempt to highlight Black Literature and other think pieces pertaining to Blackness. Thank you in advance for reading and for your support! 💖

Let me start off by saying the first time I even heard the term Trauma/Oppression Olympics, was while watching Ginny and Georgia (Season One) on Netflix in 2021. The show is not my cup of tea, but there was a scene in there where biracial girl( main character ), and her now ex boyfriend, a half Taiwanese, half white boy were going at it, arguing.

She said he may not even be FULL “Chinese” and he comes back with “I never seen you throw back jerk chicken like most Blacks.”

He then mentions that they can go ‘round and ‘round with the Oppression Olympics’

I remember watching that piece and thinking, is that how other people in reality feel about Black people? That when we express our ancestors’ lived history of slavery and oppression only for Jim Crow to nip at our necks while Blacks today are still feeling covert (and sometimes overt) effects of our existence here — we are somehow engaging in Oppression…