An enslaved man facing execution fears willful ignorance more than death.

Evidence

Though this be my last sunrise and what continues will continue beyond my reach, I am afraid— not of the noose, nor of white men and their ease with brutality but of willful ignorance: that famous stupidity that gives its adherents comfort and many companions. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 613

Categorization

• SEED: The poem’s inversion — a condemned man fearing the ignorance of his captors rather than violence — could anchor an essay on what white supremacy actually costs its beneficiaries: epistemic comfort.