Roland S. Martin - White Fear: How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds

Praise for White Fear

Roland Martin is one of the great journalists of our time! And his love of Black people is legendary! This book is another grand example of his brilliance and courage!

Dr. Cornel West

America is spinning out of control. But as most pundits struggle to understand why, Roland Martin nails it: what rests at the heart of the nations chaos is White Fear of multiracial, pluralistic democracy. For 400 years that fear has been cultivated by elites to divide and conquer working people with common interests. And now the countrys very future is at risk. Thankfully, Martin shows us a way out of the mess, if the nation is prepared to listen.

Tim Wise, author of White Like Me and Dispatches from the Race War

The proliferation of groups of White people protesting the progress of those who are classified as other than White, is the result of the fear among White people that they are going to lose their numerical majority in the USA. That we White people have always been in the numerical minority all over the globe has been carefully ignored, or denied, for over 250 years. Its time to tell the truth about who our earliest citizens were, and, by so doing, give those who are descendants of those earliest citizens the information about the brilliance of those who came before us, and who will be here long after we White folks have gone. Once we get this information into every classroom in the US, we will all stop seeing race as real and start appreciating all of us as we are.

Jane Elliott, anti-racist lecturer, author, and creator of the world-renowned Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise

Fear is at the root of almost every injusticefear of the other, fear that is created by false assumptions, or fear created by a desire for power. Roland Martins book addresses a particular kind of fear that has been both the backdrop and forefront of racism in this country. White Fear has been used and created by extremist forces to turn people who need each other against one another while the forces promoting the fear loot and take from people on both sides. This is an important read for all people, regardless of your race and color. Understand White Fear so you can release and resist it.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, author of We Are Called to Be a Movement

How can you NOT read a book with THIS title?! Roland always tells it like it is. This book is no differentGOSPEL truth. The question here for White folks is timely, and is incumbent upon them to answer: what will you do with your fear and how will you respond to this clarion call?

Angela Rye, CEO of IMPACT Strategies and former CNN commentator

Roland Martin has always been such a necessary voice to the national discourse. He beautifully occupies space at the intersection of journalism, Blackness, and truth telling, and he does so brilliantly in his new book White Fear. His latest book is not only a warning call to America but also an example of why Black media ownership is integral in the telling of our stories, and offers our perspectives in ways that are unfiltered, unapologetic, and unfettered. This literary wakeup call is a must-read.

Tiffany Cross, host of MSNBCs The Cross Connection

Roland Martin has always candidly and courageously served as the eyes and ears for Black America while giving us a voice and inspiring us with a vision of what should and could be. In his new book, White Fear, he has put a literary mirror to America, in general, and White folks in particular. Mirrors are designed for us to see things as they really are so we can correct what is wrong. This mirror will help White America find its mind so that all of us can create a nation that becomes true to what it has always claimed it wants to be. The future of this nation depends on how it responds to this mirror!

Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, senior pastor, Friendship-West Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas

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President Barak Obamas Road to the White House as Originally Reported by Roland S. Martin

HOW THE BROWNING OF AMERICA IS
MAKING WHITE FOLKS LOSE THEIR MINDS

ROLAND S. MARTIN

WITH LEAH LAKINS

BenBella Books, Inc.
Dallas, TX

White Fear copyright 2022 by Nu Vision Media, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: September 2022

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022013466

ISBN 9781637740286 (hardcover)

ISBN 9781637740293 (ebook)

Editing by Leah Wilson and Joe Rhatigan

Copyediting by Elizabeth Degenhard

Proofreading by Greg Teague and Cape Cod Compositors, Inc.

Text design and composition by PerfecType, Nashville, TN

Cover design by Brian Lemus

Cover photo of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol Riot Getty Images News / Brent Stirton

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B y 2043, no ethnic group will be the majority in America.

Two thirds of the worlds countries are already composed of a majority of people of color andsooner than we know itAmerica will be just like the rest of the world.

In fact, a 2018 Pew Research Study showed that almost half (49 percent) of post-millennials (ages six to twenty-one) are Hispanic, African American, and Asian. By 2043, these growth trends among people of color will continue, and it is expected that less than 47 percent of the country will be White Americans. The political impact of these numbers can already be seen in the high turnout of millennials and post-millennials in the 2018 midterm elections. According to Axios, an estimated 31 percent of eighteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds voted, which was the highest voter turnout for that age group since 1994. These rapidly changing demographics will have a profound impact in the next two decades for our elections, government policies, economic growth, and a whole lot more.

Does this scare you?

The answer to that question might just depend on the color of your skin.

White supremacy has been at the foundation of this countrys infrastructure since the first enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, and it continues to have a lasting impact in this country. Racial division has defined America, and race continues to dominate the American psyche like no other. In fact, race is so embedded in the DNA of America that most of us are unaware of how deeply it affects how we live, move, and breathe.