There’s something I’ve noticed about power in America.
The people who have had the most of it…
…are often the most afraid of losing it.
Not because anyone is actually coming for them.
But because equality feels like an eviction notice when you’re used to owning the whole house.
Let’s talk about it plainly.
Not emotionally.
Not bitterly.
Not yelling.
Just historically.
Because history tells the truth louder than opinions ever could.
And history shows us something uncomfortable:
Every time America gets closer to justice, a certain kind of white male ego panics.
Not all white men.
Not even all conservatives.
But that specific flavor of identity that confuses dominance with worth.
That ego?
It shatters easily.
Like glass pretending to be granite.
History has receipts
After slavery ended…
When formerly enslaved Black people began voting and holding office during the Reconstruction Era, white backlash wasn’t subtle.
It wasn’t “debate.”
It was terror.
Lynchings.
Black Codes.
The rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
Because the idea of Black men participating in democracy felt like an attack on white male supremacy.
Not equality.
Supremacy.
Power didn’t want to share.
It wanted to punish.
When schools integrated…
After Brown v. Board of Education, white parents pulled kids out of schools, created segregation academies, and fought federal law like their lives depended on it.
All because children learning together felt threatening.
Let that sink in.
Children.
Learning.
Together.
And grown men were furious.
That’s not strength.
That’s fragility dressed up as “states’ rights.”
When civil rights laws passed…
When Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law, you’d think justice would calm folks down.
Instead?
More backlash.
More rage.
More “they’re taking our country.”
Because for some people, fairness feels like theft when you’re used to favoritism.
Fast forward…
A Black family moves into the White House.
And suddenly the country “needs to be taken back.”
The election of Barack Obama didn’t just trigger policy disagreements.
It triggered an identity crisis.
Conspiracy theories.
Birtherism.
Racial resentment disguised as “economic anxiety.”
Because the symbolism was louder than the policy:
A Black man leading America.
For some, that wasn’t progress.
It was humiliation.
Again — fragility.
Here’s the pattern
Every time someone else rises…
• women
• Black folks
• immigrants
• queer folks
• disabled folks
• anyone not straight, white male
The same reaction shows up:
“Things are changing too fast.”
“We’re losing our country.”
“This isn’t America anymore.”
Translation?
“I’m no longer automatically centered.”
And when your identity is built on being the default…
Equality feels like erasure.
Let me say this gently but clearly
If your masculinity collapses because a woman gets promoted…
If your confidence collapses because history includes Black truth…
If your patriotism collapses because everyone gets rights…
That isn’t strength.
That’s insecurity with a flag wrapped around it.
Real power doesn’t panic.
Real power doesn’t ban books.
Real power doesn’t silence teachers.
Real power doesn’t fear pronouns.
Real power adapts.
Fragility clings.
My take?
This moment isn’t a culture war.
It’s grief.
The grief of losing automatic dominance.
The grief of having to compete fairly.
The grief of realizing you were never “better” — just prioritized.
And instead of healing that grief?
Some choose control.
Control of bodies.
Control of narratives.
Control of who gets to exist loudly.
Because control is easier than self-examination.
But here’s the good news
Fragility always screams loudest before it fades.
Every backlash in history?
Followed progress.
Every tantrum?
Followed change.
Every attempt to rewind the clock?
Failed.
Because justice bends slow…
…but it bends forward.
Always.
And the world is learning something powerful:
When you’re truly secure, you don’t need anyone beneath you to feel tall.
If power disappears when others rise…
It wasn’t power.
It was privilege.
And privilege cracks easily.
Bina
The Renaissance Woman the Algorithm Warned You About
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