Chapter10TheFearFactor.pdf - Howard Assignments

The Fear Factor

Fear is a powerful emotion. Fear can paralyze us from taking any ac-

tion or it can motivate us to take desperate measures. Fear may be ra-

tional, such as the reasonable fear of a soldier being sent to war. It can

be illogical, such as the fear of a paranoid person who refuses to leave

the house. Fear can motivate us to help others so that we can win their

favor, or it can convince us that other people are enemies we must de-

stroy. Much of what we do, we do in response to our fears.

In 2 Timothy 1:7 we are told that God has not given us a spirit of fear

but of power, love and self-discipline. Paul positions fear as the opposite

of love. Fear can stymie love and limit the power of love to create inti-

macy. If racial groups are to overcome our historic mistrust and learn to

embrace each other, we have to overcome our fears.

Fear is a product of our sin nature. It interferes with our relationships

with others through a variety of mechanisms. We may lash out at others

so we hurt them before they hurt us.1 We may hide our feelings and

thoughts from others so they cannot use them as weapons against us.

Fear is a powerful factor in race relations today. The mere accusation

of racism can create fear since nobody wants to be called a racist. People

fear that others will not take them seriously, a common fear among peo-

ple of color. Fear prevents people of different races from being honest

Yancey, George. Beyond Racial Gridlock : Embracing Mutual Responsibility, InterVarsity Press, 2006. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=5716726.Created from amridge on 2023-06-11 15:06:38.

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126 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K

with each other and from hearing what other people say.

I believe that our faith can help us overcome racial barriers by helping

us eliminate our fears. God did not give us these fears, but he will give

us the strength to overcome them.

LOVE AND FEAR IN THE CLASSROOM

In my classroom I distinctly see the fear created by dysfunctional race re-

lations. It is a tradition that people do not talk about race, politics or re-

ligion in polite company. Yet I teach race/ethnicity courses in which I

want my students to engage with me and with each other on a wide va-

riety of racial issues. I see that people of color are afraid that their con-

cerns will be minimized or laughed at. I sense that whites are apprehen-

sive about expressing their concerns because of potential accusations of

racism. In a classroom setting where I want to encourage honest conver-

sation, I can clearly see the stifling effects of fear.

For me this fear means that I must be very careful when I encounter

my white students. Because I am an African American, whites may be

fearful of me. I worry less about the willingness of my students of color

to raise racial concerns because I know that I will be bringing up the is-

sues myself. But to be a child of God means that I have to die to my sins

(Romans 6:11). One of my biggest sins is feeding my own selfish desires.

Part of dying to my selfishness is learning to see things from other

people’s perspectives. I cannot allow myself the luxury of finding ex-

cuses to ignore the concerns of my white students and friends. Rather I

must put aside my own concerns so that I can serve others.

I must learn to put aside fear by expressing love. When I go out of my

way to allow white students to express their frustrations, that is an ex-

pression of love that can conquer fear. At times I have admonished a stu-

dent of color who made an unfair charge of racism toward a white stu-

dent. If I fail to handle such a situation properly, my white students’ fears

will grow, and honest conversation will become impossible. My chal-

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T h e F e a r F a c t o r 127

lenge is to keep the lines of dialogue open, and I believe that will happen

only if I stay sensitive to the needs of my white students.

Let me be clear about one aspect of this process. It is not that I ignore

the needs of students of color. Anyone who has taken a race/ethnicity

class from me knows that I spend a great deal of time discussing issues

of white privilege, institutional discrimination, historic racism and other

issues that concern of people of color. My class is not based on the mod-

els of colorblindness, Anglo-conformity or any other philosophy that

supports majority group interest over the interest of people of color. I

base my teaching on the mutual responsibility model, which values the

perspectives of all races. It is natural for me to organize my courses so

the interests of African Americans will be expressed. That I can do with-

out any effort. What does take effort is for me to also look out for the

interests of those who are not like me—European Americans. White

Christians who want to deal with fear must die to themselves and look

to the interests of people of color more than their own racial interests.

DIFFERENT FEARS, DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Majority and minority group members have distinct responsibilities in

the battle against racism. These responsibilities generate different con-

cerns for whites and nonwhites. All of us must die to ourselves, but the

fears of whites are different from the fears of nonwhites. When we fail to

recognize these differences, we make inaccurate attributions, which can

lead to more racial confusion.

Whites are very afraid of being labeled racist. One of the worst things

you can call a majority group member is a racist. The accusation raises

the stereotype of a culturally bankrupt bigot. Fear prevents European

Americans from being willing to enter into genuine dialogue with

people of color, because they do not want to say something that will get

them categorized as racist. As a result, whites avoid addressing racial is-

sues by favoring a colorblind or Anglo-conformity perspective. If they

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128 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K

can dismiss all discussions about race, they can relieve themselves of

their fears.

People of color have fears as well. They fear that they will be ridiculed

when they bring up their racial concerns. They want to see racial abuse

end, and they know that it will end only if majority group members are

willing to help them change society. If whites do not take their concerns

seriously, their efforts will be in vain. They fear being characterized as

troublemakers. They can become so determined to have racial issues

taken seriously that they support anyone who points out racism. Their

determination leads them to embrace the multiculturalist model or the

white responsibility model.

Eventually we develop a cycle of fear that inhibits racial healing. The

fears of whites lead them to ignore racial issues. Their effort to dismiss

racial issues feeds the fear of people of color that racism will not be taken

seriously. The fears of people of color deepen through the misguided ef-

forts of majority group members. As a result, people of color begin to

support leaders who foolishly play the race card but who at least uphold

the importance of racial justice. Playing the race card and other actions

of minority leaders increase the fears of whites that they will be labeled

racist regardless of what they say or do. As whites’ fears deepen, they re-

double their efforts to push for the colorblind philosophy. The vicious

circle of dysfunctional race relations continues, with the fears of whites

and the fears of people of color feeding on each other.

Figure 1. Vicious circle of dysfunctional race relations

White fear

Minorities playrace card

Whites ignoreracial issues

Minority fear

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