White Fear Is Irrational (And Deadly) – Guest post by Nekeisha Alexis-Baker

“My client did not wait to become that victim,” he said. “My client did not wait to either get assaulted by a weapon or have someone potentially pull a trigger,” he said.

“Now, does it sound irrational? Of course it sounds irrational. But have you ever been in that situation?” Strolla asked.

— Quoted from “Michael Dunn convicted of attempted murder; jury can’t decide on murder” by Tom Watkins and Greg Botelho, CNN Justice

So let me get this straight: Michael Dunn was not a victim of assault. He was not a victim of a shooting. He acted irrationally — aka insanely, stupidly and crazily — by shooting into a vehicle filled with Black teenagers and killing Jordan Davis, all because he didn’t like the volume of the music in their car. And yet, somehow, his lawyer manages to construe this incident as one in which Dunn was so afraid that he had no other option but to defend himself with deadly force? Really?

The offensive and oppressive nature of this case is evident to anyone willing to see it. But it doesn’t stop with the act of senseless brutality Dunn committed against a car full of Black youth. Nor does it stop with this lawyer’s assumption that “everybody” — read: every white body — would have been justified in acting the same way when presented with Black presence. It doesn’t even stop with the social narrative lying at the root of the altercation: that young Black men and Black people in general are inherent and irrevocable menaces that must be controlled by any means necessary.

No. The offense and oppression is multiplied even further by the ways mass media chooses to talk about the case.

Instead of calling this trial what it really is about — racism, classism and white supremacy culture intersecting with a culture of violence and white-male vigilanteism — the “news” outlets continue to call this the “loud music” case. So intense is the desire not to acknowledge the devastating impact of racism in our society that popular discourse about a case that is obviously laden with racist assumptions and presumed privilege will avoid naming the issue at every turn. Even when these are Dunn’s own words on the matter. Even when sanctioned avoidance trivializes the injustice.

I don’t know what it is going to take to dial-down the rationalization and legalization of white fear that is rearing its ugly head in the United States right now, but it needs to happen — and fast. The lynch mob mentality is riding high and the consequences are too steep for those of us who share the “wrong” shade in the racial hierarchy.

Author Bio:

Nekeisha Alexis-Baker is an occasional writer and speaker with interests innonhuman animal ethics and Christian theology; vegan practice as nonviolent Christian witness; undoing racism and resisting oppression; and intersections between radical Christian faith and anarchist politics. She received her Bachelor of  Arts degree from New York University with a concentration in Africana Studies and Masters of Arts: Theological Studies degree from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, specializing in theology and ethics. She currently serves as chair of the Intercultural Competence and Undoing Racism team at AMBS. Nekeisha is also affiliated with the Jesus Radicals network and with the Roots of Justice anti-oppresson training collective. A native Trinidadian and former New Yorker, she now resides in Elkhart, Ind. where she stays positive by growing spiritually in her local AME fellowship, building community in the city, and singing karaoke with boisterous friends. She blogs at criticalanimal.tumblr.com and everydayoppression.tumblr.com