Recently, I came across a video clip on TikTok where a Black woman spoke openly about her Black fatigue — the mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion caused by living with constant, systemic racism.
Instead of empathy, she was met with trolling, ridicule, and outright racist comments.
Sadly, this reaction is not rare. And it is exactly why conversations about Black fatigue remain urgent.
What Is Black Fatigue?
Coined by author and diversity expert Mary-Frances Winters, Black fatigue describes the cumulative wear and tear on Black people’s mental, emotional, and physical health caused by everyday racism.
It’s not about a single incident, it’s about the constant drip of discriminatory behaviours, microaggressions, and structural barriers over a lifetime.
Imagine:
- Being asked where you’re really from again.
- Being followed around a shop by security.
- Having your professional expertise questioned while others are assumed competent.
- Seeing yet another video of police brutality against someone who looks like you.
- Being told you’re “overreacting” when you raise these issues.
One incident might be brushed off. But when it happens day after day, year after year, the impact accumulates.
Why the TikTok Reactions Are a Problem
The woman in the TikTok video wasn’t angry. She wasn’t shouting. She wasn’t making wild accusations.
She was simply describing her exhaustion.
And yet, the comments were filled with:
- Dismissal: “She’s making it up.”
- Deflection: “Other people have it worse.”
- Derailment: “What about…?”
- Direct racism: Name-calling and stereotyping.
These reactions are not only cruel, but they also prove her point. They show how quickly valid expressions of racial stress are invalidated or attacked, and how society often refuses to see Black people as credible narrators of their own experience.
Why We Need to Listen – Not Minimise
When someone says they are tired from racism, the response should be listening, not defending.
Black fatigue isn’t a personal weakness, it’s a social and structural problem.
Minimising it, or accusing someone of being “too sensitive,” only reinforces the very dynamics causing the exhaustion.
How to Respond Constructively
If we truly want to be allies and create more equitable spaces, here’s what we can do:
- Believe lived experiences – You don’t need to have gone through it yourself to acknowledge it’s real.
- Resist defensiveness – Someone else’s pain isn’t an attack on you.
- Educate yourself – Read, watch, and listen to resources on racism without expecting Black people to do all the teaching.
- Challenge racism in your spaces – Call it out when you see or hear it, whether online or in person.
- Promote equity in action – Advocate for inclusive policies, representation, and systemic change.
The Bigger Picture
Black fatigue is not just about feeling “tired.” It is about the long-term effects of living in a society where you are constantly navigating prejudice, stereotypes, and systemic barriers.
The consequences are not only emotional they can lead to poorer health outcomes, reduced life expectancy, and generational trauma.
When someone says they are experiencing Black fatigue, it is an invitation for us to pause, reflect, and change our behaviour.
It is not a cue for trolling, mockery, or disbelief.
The woman on TikTok deserved to be heard.
So does every Black person who bravely shares their truth in a world that too often refuses to listen.
Here’s a poem that captures the depth of Black fatigue, what it is, and why awareness, listening, and empathy matter without minimising lived experiences.
Black Fatigue
It is not just tiredness,
not the kind that sleep can mend.
It is the weight of centuries
pressing through each present day,
a slow erosion of spirit
from battles fought without cease.
It is the meeting where your voice is echoed
only when another repeats it.
It is the shop door shadowing you,
the stranger’s sudden clutch of a bag,
the question in their eyes that says
Prove you belong here.
It is the need to carry two selves
one for the world’s comfort,
one for your own truth
and the ache that comes
when even those who call you friend say,
Don’t take it personally.
Black fatigue is not weakness.
It is endurance stretched thin,
a quiet courage lived loud,
a strength that should not be tested
just to prove it exists.
So listen
not to answer,
not to defend
but to learn what it costs
to walk in these shoes every day.
Do not weigh the story
against your comfort.
Do not smooth its edges
because sharp truths cut.
To empathise is to stand
without trying to take the floor,
to see the storm without
calling it a breeze,
to believe the pain without
demanding proof.
Because Black fatigue
is real.
It is here.
And every time you hear it
and refuse to minimise it,
you help to lighten
a weight carried for far too long.