Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
What is behind the fear of young black men in America?
When you think about young black men in America, what picture do you see? Do you see a group of thugs with no father figure or do you see potential leaders? Most of us, if we're honest, do not think about young black men in America as potential leaders. We default to viewing young black men through the lens of stereotypes, mainstream rappers, criminals on the news, and our own internal fears.
What is behind the fear of young black men in America? Before I answer this question, I think we need to ask a preliminary question. And that question is this: what is behind fear? I believe when people feel threatened or in danger, one reacts in fear. The fight or flight response kicks in. Fear also comes from the lack of perceived control on subjective reality. We fear what we can't control. Let's be real, if we see a group of young black men with braided hair, dreadlocks, and sagging pants, then we get a little uneasy. All the negative associations people have placed on young black men come flooding into our minds and we become afraid. We are not use to being in the company of young black men who look "thuggish". I for one, as a black male, have experienced this type of fear. Depending on the neighborhood I'm in, if I see a group of black guys who are dressed like Lil Wayne (top picture to the right) stare me down, then I get uneasy. I usually look the young men in their faces, lift my chin in the air, and say, "What's up?" More often than not, I get a similar response in return. Now if you are not black, you might say, "That's easy for you, Andrew, all black guys do that to each other!" Well, you're right! It's like saying "What's up?" is the universal black brotherhood greeting...but I digress.
Back to issue at hand, I believe that we fear young black men because we have many internal fears, for example, fearing loss of control, fearing danger, feeling threatened, fearing any symbol of strong masculinity, maybe you were robbed by a young black man, maybe you were bullied by a young black man, maybe you're afraid of what they will think of you...the list can go on and on. We succumb to fear because deep down we know that we are not in control. We seek to manipulate our reality as much as possible to appear in control. We live in certain neighborhoods, wear certain clothes, go to certain schools, hold certain jobs, and marry certain people because we want to control our environment as much as possible. When our controlled experiment doesn't work, fear takes its place. But fear was there all along, motivating us to maintain a level of reality to keep us from constant worrying.
We fear black males because we can't control them. We can't tell them what to dress, how to behave, how to talk, and which side of the sidewalk to walk on. We are powerless to change a young black man who exudes a level of confidence that seems stifling at times. What if that young black man is afraid of you? What if he's wandering, why are they looking at me like that? Why do I feel out of place when I'm surrounded by a bunch of people who are not from my neighborhood? Why do I feel like I'm sub-human? You see, fear is not a monologue, but a dialogue between both parties. One party may be able to hide it better than the other. The truth is we are all afraid of something. The question is how do we react when we're afraid? 1 John 4:18 says, "Perfect love cast out fear." Jesus Christ loved us so much that he decided to face the ultimate fear and that is, to be a man clothed in sin in the hands of a holy God. Jesus removed the barrier of hostility away from us so that we can approach God the Father in love every time we are afraid and ask Him to remove our fears just like His Son removed our sins.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
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