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Why are you so scared of black men and people of color?
Who would the average person feel safer around, a group of white or people of color?
Why Do I Feel Less Safe Around Colored People?
I was chatting with a friend the other day who is black. They went on to tell me about an encounter they had in the gym.
She was the only person in a small gym that was open 24/7, and it was getting close to nighttime.
A white guy walked in and then left after a short while. She felt no change in emotion when he was there.
Finally, a black male walked in. And she immediately noticed that she felt slightly on edge about the black guy versus the white guy. But she was unsure why this was.
The stereotype of the dangerous black man is burrowed so deep in our collective imagination that even many black Americans see black men as automatic threats.
There’s one epidemic we may never find a vaccine for: fear of black men in public spaces
White America has long associated black men with criminality […].
(John Blake – CNN).
Every time I feel an ounce of fear tries to surface in situations around people of color, I check myself because I realize it is primarily due to how society depicts people of color in the media.
But there is also a flip side to this. I sometimes get stares from all races if I’m not dressed a certain way or wear my hair in a more “”black or “”Afrocentric”” hairstyle. I’ve been followed and watched in stores several times during my life.
It’s not just men but women of color who are also made to feel as if they are unsafe because of their skin color.
We are wired to praise and feel most secure around the white standard, but the color of your skin should never equate to how safe or unsafe you are. That’s a matter of character.
White Men Are The Primary Shooters In America
This is a bold statement. And we all know that NOT all white men are shooters, but the ones that have been the primary shooters have been white men, and we can’t ignore this fact.
The graphical representation below depicts the shooters behind mass shootings by race.
Number of mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and April 2023 by shooter’s race or ethnicityAs we can easily see here, white people are the predominant shooters in America.
Does this mean you’re going to get shot by a white person? No, but it does beg the question, “”If white people are the primary mass shooters in America, why do we feel safest around them versus people of color?””
An intriguing example of perpetuated societal norms
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.