Collectively held political fears guide policy choices beyond individual experience

Evidence

White fear is a kind of political fear. Political fear (like the current fear of Muslims) reaches beyond fright or anxiety experienced by individuals. It’s bigger than any one person. It is a deeply felt, collectively held fear shared by people who believe, together, that some harm threatens them and their way of life. That apprehension, based in how we generally live our lives and sometimes in individual experience, guides political choices and policy. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 199

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precisely defines ‘political fear’ in contrast to individual fright or anxiety, and connects it to policy effects.