6/21/25

The Internalized Fear of Being White

Transcript: We're very scared. Even when we don't understand why we’re afraid. I watched those community forums when the [Affordable Care Act] was first out there, and I saw white people going to the microphone and just turning blue in the face, as they say. Our veins were about to pop. I said, what the hell is this? Do we love our doctors so much? Does Marcus Welby come to our house? Do we love the insurance premium that is bankrolling us? Do we love to go to the clinic and wait six hours? What are we defending?


There was something psychological, something visceral, about the fear. I don't know what I'm scared of, but I see this Black man up here and I'm wondering if all the promises of this nation to me and mine for generations are now out the window. I am afraid of where this nation is going. You see the rage when it comes to immigration from Mexico and the desire to just build a wall around this nation. It’s deeply rooted fear that somehow we as whites who've been promised and who have benefited so much because we are white, are now no longer able to bank on that. We see the demographics changing. And that fear that comes out now turns to rage. It's an internalized factor that, if I can't get an answer that is sufficient, then I'm going to get angry. Psychologists and other mental health professionals have got to start recognizing the fear that is a part of being white now and begin to address that, because it's very dangerous.

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