Yesterday I got into a discussion with someone I’ve known for over thirty five years. That person is white and as you know I’m black. Almost twenty four hours passed before I decided to write about it.I’m not going to use his name because we’re living in a crazy time and some looney tunes might take it into their head to go after him because they perceive him to be a traitor to his race. When you read this I want you to try and maintain objectivity.
The topic of our discussion was what’s driving white rage. His contention was that its four hundred years of pent up guilt and rage. The guilt stems from knowing that what white people did was wrong and the fear that the same might be visited upon them. This guy lives in one of the most affluent communities in Northern Oakland County. He shared with me that recently there had been a private meeting of the men in his home owners association. The women weren’t invited. At that meeting a guest speaker had been invited. This guest speaker was from the evangelical alt-right. He talked to this group of men about why they needed to fight against abortion and why they needed to hold the line politically.
When he started to talk about abortion he didn’t speak on it in moral terms. He spoke about in terms of how abortion was creating a demographic crisis for white people in this country. The speaker told them that the white birth rate had been slowly but steadily dropping for the last several decades. The average birthrate for white families was less than 1.5 children per household. He went on to say that because of the aging of the baby boomers that the death rate for whites now surpassed the birthrate. Abortion represents a real threat to white numerical advantage. He told them that if something wasn’t done that they would be on the short end of the stick very soon.
Fear is a very real emotion. It doesn’t have to be based on anything real. A perceived threat is enough to fuel it into an unreasonable response. Four hundred years of generational being the king of the hill can create its own paranoia. Very few people ever want to give up the hill voluntarily.
He told this group of men that they needed to support Trump not because he was the right man for the job but because he represented the preservation of their way of life.
When he finished telling me this story ( I took notes) I asked him what he had said to his neighbors when the talk was over. He said nothing. I asked him why and before he could answer I knew why. To open his mouth meant putting everything that he had at risk. In fact none of his friends and neighbors raised an objection to what they had heard.
This conversation confirmed for me that what we are fighting is even more insidious than anyone realizes. Even people who may understand that there is no black and hoard coming to divest them of their comfortable lifestyle aren’t willing to say it out loud. This battle in front of us is going to be more difficult than any of us expected. It will invariably pit friends and family against one another.
I asked him why he chose to tell me what had happened rather than do anything about it himself. He told me he liked where he lived and most of his neighbors. He couldn’t risk having his family ostracized. Fear is a very real emotion.
THINK!!
EYES WIDE OPEN!!!