Our national discussions about bigotry, hatred, fear, terrorism seem to revolve around White sensitivities and how non-Whites still need to stroke White egos and allay White fears. Specifically, non-Whites need to be especially careful around White males -- that particular subset of humanity seems particularly prone to violent outbursts in reaction to fear, bigotry, or simply because something is out of kilter in an individual White male's idea of how the world should be, but isn't.
I ask the question about why Whites seem to be so afraid of differences because I honestly have no idea how to answer it. I have taken an historical look at how White culture has evolved since they first landed here in droves in the late 1500s (yes, yes, I know "Europeans" began coming over here much before this era, but I'm writing a diary, not a book). I looked at how those early European illegal immigrants' philosophies and worldviews continued into modern times. Very briefly, here are a few ideas I've come up with about White Male Americans and their crystalline egos:
Culture: All these Europeans came over from all over Europe. They had many different languages and customs and foods and cultures. They also were traditional "enemies" in the Old World -- fighting for limited resources and land and opportunity in the Old Country before bravely coming to an unknown land where they were told they could be their own masters, determine their own destinies and pretty much shed the old customs, languages, and cultures. Unfortunately, they also encountered non-Whites already here who had to be brutally subjugated. Then, because Whites could not or would not subjugate their own (could not, most likely, as there was quite a tradition of indentured servants who kept running away to join the "savage Indians" and led to the rise of anti-indigenous and anti-miscegeny laws), they imported a bunch of slaves from first Africa and then Asia (Chinese slaves built the railroads from the West Coast). After this import of slave labor, Whites had a new problem: They were as afraid of the other-colored people as they were of the indigenous peoples already here!
Religion: They held tenaciously to their old ideas about religion, and also grew these old ideas into new Protestant religions that are only loosely based on Old World Christianity. They developed new cults that, with time, became recognized as religions. Most of these new, Protestant religions began as cults of personality, a charismatic pseudo-religious leader who gained enough followers and established himself (or herself) well enough to be recognized by the US government as a leader of a religion. Oddly enough, traditional religious and spiritual leaders of indigenous beliefs and systems of belief were not officially recognized (and often brutally suppressed) until very recent American history. Freedom of religion was used as a bludgeon, if you were not born White.
Politics: White males were the only people allowed to vote, hold office, write laws and otherwise participate in their own version of Apartheid for the first century-ish of the US. They allowed themselves to see the world as bending and capitulating to their will. If some dark skinned people somewhere were doing something that showed that White males were not masters of the universe, those intrepid White males would write laws and forcefully put down those dastardly dark skinned people. White males, thusly established, have been very slow to share political power with anyone outside of their own subset of humanity.
Social: Until around the 1970s, ads centered around White males and their needs, photography was centered around their need to sexualize and suppress women . . . taking a look at old ads gave me the distinct impression that it was very hard to be a White people. They had all the zits, flat hair, wrong hair color, body odor, dirty clothes, dull razors, bad shaving cream, needed all the home repair stuff, problem vacuum cleaners, insufficient floor cleaners . . . they seemed to be fixated on all this stuff that was wrong with themselves! They idealized parts of what they see as exotic about non-White peoples, but they demonized those same peoples generally. They wanted tanned skin, but were deathly afraid of peoples who have naturally dark skin.
Heterosexuality: White males seemed to be obsessed with controlling how women of any color thought about beauty, fashion, body image, social constructs and even got women to conform to White males' idea of how their world needs to work in order to help White males retain their own social position at the head of society. It was quite the feat! And, very successful until recent history . . . even now, women shave their body hair and accentuate their bodies to suit how White men have been taught to sexualize through infantilization of their female counterparts. Stroking the heterosexual White male ego has become second nature for most non-White, non-male people -- it is a basic survival instinct as when one is viewed as nonconforming, White males tend react with violence.
Homophobia: White male egos seem to be very brittle when it comes discussing homosexuality. Talk to any average Joe on the street and if you intimate you think he is gay? The reaction is one of violence and an irrational fear of being seen as anything other than heterosexual. If a man is viewed as more liberal than his peers, he may get labeled as "gay" or "homo" or "queer." Conformity to the straight, White male image seems to consume males across the color spectrum, and the reactions in non-White cultures can be even more exaggerated than by Whites. And, if a non-White male is perceived as gay by White males, the punishment can be a very violent and painful death.
Racism: This idea must be perpetuated in the legislative, judicial and executive branches of governments from local to national. White men retain their status through intimidation, fear, bigotry, misogyny, male chauvinism and a hierarchical structure that is strict and unchanging with White, heterosexual men on top, followed by White, heterosexual women, and then anyone who does not fall into the heterosexual White male stereotype get to fight over the scraps left by White, heterosexual male society.
When the rest of America stands up and asks why we need to continue reactionary and counterproductive policies and traditions, we get a violent reaction from mainly White, heterosexual male terrorists in the form of mass killings, property destruction, police sanctioned brutality, regressive legislative policies, reactionary voting requirements and other forms of White on minority violence. Most of this seems to stem from fear, fear of losing power, fear of losing control over others, fear of otherness. Fear is one emotion that can reliably be used to subjugate one's own clique into social and cultural conformity and then branch out to be used to bludgeon others to bend to that idea of social and cultural conformity. It is a hold-over from colonization and, while incredibly effective, is ultimately destructive and reactionary.
I do not have an answer as to why White males are afraid. I am not a White male. I can only observe and report what I observe. I can say, however, that it is no longer appropriate for non-White Americans and non-male Americans to help White, straight males approach, acknowledge and overcome their own systemic, institutionalized fear. Red, Black, Yellow, and women of all colors have all tried throughout the history of this country to help White men to no avail, and now, it is no longer our fight. It is up to White men to talk with other White men about their own hangups, social outlooks, worldviews and come to a way to help themselves catch up with the rest of society.