It's pessimism. And I say this because, over and over again, the predictions turn out to be false.

In an earlier version of the article I listed a few examples of predictions that turned out to be false, but were stated with absolute certainty by some within the black community.

Obama will never be elected president. Obama will never get a second term. Obama will be killed in office by a white supremacist. The white supremacist legal system will never convict Chauvin for killing George Floyd. It will never convict Ahmaud Arbery's killers. It will never convict the organisers of the Unite The Right rally. If a black teen walked around with a semi-automatic like Rittenhouse did, he'd have been shot on sight.

In all of these cases, the stress placed on people's nervous systems was of their own making. None of it was realism. Just knee jerk cynicism that was forgotten once it turned out to be wrong.

If you're constantly braced for a punch, even if the punch never comes, your nervous system will be under stress. You'll feel as if you're under attack. I understand that releasing that tension feels dangerous. But in the end, it only hurts you.

Don't get me wrong, punches will come. That's part of life. But it's better, for us most of all, to roll with them as they come instead of flinching at every movement.