Irrational fear of certain races.

[confusd]

Have you ever heard of someone being afraid of a certain race, for no particular reason? I dont mean " i dont like *colour* people". I mean and actual fear...

There is a lady at my work, she is a lovely lady. (She herself isnt Caucasian, she has dark olive skin)
At my work it has been very busy so we have had a few people come in from another place to help out. Now one guy was very dark skinned. He was lovely and very polite.
Now my boss paired this lady and this man up. The lady, had instantly moved to the other side of the room when the guy had walked in.
She left the room after hearing the news they had to be paired together. When we found her she was completely beside herself. She did not want to work with this man.
She has a major fear of black people, pretty much anyone who has skin darker then herself. Now Ive heard of people not liking certain races for what ever reason.

But she was FRIGHTENED of this man she had never met. She was shaking and had to be sent home.
Neither she or anyone in her family has been hurt by someone with dark skin, She has no reason to fear them. She said even some of her cousins who have skin a little darker then her make her uncomfortable. She has had counselling and everything but it wasnt working for her.

I feel sorry for her, she is a really nice lady ( i also feel sorry for him because since she is employed by work and he was only a temp, he wont get anymore hours at work) . She isnt racist in anyway.

[TinyLittleTootsies]

I have heard of it, but never met someone with it.

[FearlessLeader]

gosh poor woman and poor man she was paired with. At least if you have a fear of spiders you're not gonna hurt their feelings.

My grandpa had a huge fear of japanese people but that wasn't irrational, he was POW in WWII

[TinyLittleTootsies]

My grandpa had a huge fear of japanese people but that wasn't irrational, he was POW in WWII

Oh yeah, actually I did know someone who was a POW and hated/really feared Germans who weren't jewish. She was like a 99 year old woman and also hated catholics.

[MsTruth]

Given her reaction I would suspect that something has happened in her past that has caused such fear.

If your boss is a reasonable person it may be best for someone to have a quiet word about a different pairing up as the situation as it stands is not going to benefit anyone. I would only do this though if you knew for sure that it wouldn't cause unecessary stress for anyone concerned.

[confusd]

Nothing has happened in her past, she said that why she also gets so embarrassed by it. she had no "reason" to be afraid. She has had counselling but it hasnt helped her.

The man wont be returning to our work. He was only a "temp" because we were busy.

[Deserama]

Yes there would be a reason, she probably doesn't remember it. Her reaction is involuntary. Poor thing!

[kmetius]

My oldest used to have a fear of dark skinned people for absolutely no reason you should have seen her reaction to my uncle when she first met him and then again to her fathers best friend. My god she would go off just start screaming and crying for no reason what so ever....it started when she was about 6months old and finished when she hit 4....thankfully it finished as we have many dark skinned friends and family members infact dd1's best friend is dark skinned so when we tell her about what she used to do she is mortified but we all sit back and laugh about it now

[Buttoneska]

Yes I can relate to her, if I am honest I have been afraid of the very tall, dark ppl like Sudanese. Our family business was in St. Albans, Vic and when I first started seeing them (I was maybe 13) I was really afraid, intimdated by them.

I am in no way racist, it wasn't about that - but I would get instant butterflies in my stomach, panic, get clammy hands, and have trouble breathing. and yes, it was embarassing.

Over time, I still had the same initial reaction but could kinda just shut it off if you know what I mean. So it was over within a second.

I have been brought up with heaps of different races and none of them have ever caused a reaction like that, so I don't quite know? I don't believe anythgn has ever happened to me in relation to that? And my response is to both female and males and the taller they are the more it scares me.

very embarassing

[BabushkaMumma]

I knew a caucasian woman who was kidnapped twice in South Africa by African men, and she naturally has an immense fear (and a general anxiety level that is through the roof) of African men.