A black visitor’s presence triggered fears of interracial dating and baptism

Evidence

But it was another sanctuary visit that exposed just how rigorously the color line continued to be patrolled at church. … His presence among us raised a frenzy of anxious questions. What if he wanted to join the church as a member? What if, in an era in which African American and white children sharing community pools was still uncomfortable to most whites in the South, he wanted to be baptized by full immersion in the sanctuary’s baptismal pool installed so visibly above the choir loft? What if his entire family wanted to join the church? And, God forbid, what if Michael became an active member of the youth group and wanted to date one of our white teenage girls? — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 157

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Congregants feared an integrated pew more than a black prisoner preaching — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 158; The Black man is overdetermined from without, enslaved by appearance; White fear of blacks stems from feared divine or black revenge — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black: How Race Still…, 228 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The Black man is overdetermined from without, enslaved by appearance #expands (0.85)
• White fear of blacks stems from feared divine or black revenge #expands (0.85) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 228
• Racism hinges on denied libidinal attraction to the racial other #expands (0.80)
• The Negro faces the white man burdened with a past to legitimate #expands (0.75) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 825