The Only Thing We Have to Fear…Is White Fear.
“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today…So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt
In 1933, the “fear” gripping America was the Great Depression and rumors of a growing threat in to the east, in Europe. Today, America finds itself similarly fearful. Sure, there’s the verbalized and politicized fear of economic decline due to globalization and the Great Recession, and of a growing threat in the Middle East. But there is also an unspoken and insidious fear fueling the unrest and socioeconomic divisions that we see in America today.
It is white fear. The fear of an (ever diminishing) white majority of an (ever increasing) black and brown minority. An “unreasoning, unjustified terror” that has paralyzed efforts to “convert retreat into advance”, to convert a history of unbridled oppression into a future of equality.
After centuries of slavery and decades of segregation, white Americans fear the loss of their Manifest Destiny — the privilege, status and power bestowed upon them by virtue of the place and color they were born. The face of America is changing, and in order lessen the blow of that inevitable demographic shift, white Americans have created structures, institutions and policies designed to diminish and, in some cases, eliminate the social, political and economic influence of growing minority populations.
White fear has led to the rollback of key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and the gerrymandering of districts with large minority populations. As a result, black and brown voters have been ritually disenfranchised, their political voice and power neutralized.
White fear has led to predatory lending practices and “separate but equal” housing policies, which have resulted in the flight of not just whites, but of jobs, investment, and and quality education from majority black neighborhoods. As a result, black and brown Americans find themselves stuck in a cycle of inadequate education, limited opportunities, and crippling debt.
White fear has led to the development of “zero tolerance” drug policies and minimum sentencing requirements — policies fed to the public as being “tough on drugs” but which, in reality, are “tough on minorities”. White fear has led to the deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and so many others who have been preyed upon by police officers bound “to serve and protect” white interests only, and for whom fear is reason enough to pull the trigger. As a result, we have a generation of “missing” black men — brothers, husbands, and fathers rotting behind bars or six feet under. We have a generation of broken families — of sons and daughters growing up without fathers, of mothers left to provide for their children on their own — eking it out in ghettos and projects seeded, watered, and cultivated by white fear.
In his inauguration speech, FDR affirms his belief that America “will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper” in spite of the extreme and seemingly intractable challenges the country is facing. He goes on to say:
In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
What we are seeing today, though, is an unwillingness on the part of white America to frankly and vigorously engage with and address the structural racism that has been built into our systems of governance, education and public policy. In response to #BlackLivesMatter, white America vehemently avows that #AllLivesMatter, silencing any productive debate on how to reduce racial bias within our police force. In response to the shooting of Dallas police officers, white America vehemently avows that #BlueLivesMatter, reifying the police for their willingness to put themselves in situations that no one else will for our “protection” and thereby legitimizing their fear and use of force in those situations. In response to graphic footage of police brutality, white America vehemently avows that there are things we can’t see from that angle, things we can’t know from such a short video clip, allowing another police officer to walk and denying another black family justice.
We [white America] parry, pivot, reframe, and counterattack to avoid having frank, vigorous, and difficult conversations about structural racism in America. We do this because we don’t want to admit to our fear. We do this because we don’t want to recognize our role in perpetuating these systems and institutions of oppression. We do this because we don’t want to admit that the structures designed to alleviate our “unreasoned and unjustified terror” are themselves terrorizing others. We do this because, if we didn’t, we might actually feel obligated to change the status quo.
Through his foresight and willingness to push through politically unpopular policies, FDR pulled America back from the brink of economic collapse, ushering in an era of unprecedented growth and stability. Whether America will be able to pull itself back from the precipice it now finds itself peering over will once again depend on our ability to confront difficult realities head on, rather than cower in their wake.
We need to talk.
We need to talk about ending minimum sentencing requirements.
We need to talk about ending gerrymandering and predatory lending.
We need to talk about demilitarizing our police forces and getting them embedded in their communities.
We need to talk about making our systems of governance of all the people, by all the people, and for all the people.
We need to talk about white fear so that we can move out from under its shadow and move forward as one nation, with liberty and justice for all.
We need to talk.
