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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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WARNING! WARNING!
The Right, Reverend, Brother, PHD, DD, JD, M.O.U.S.E., Dr. Peanut of the George Washington Carver Holistic Health Commission of Tuskeegee, Ala., has issued an Anegrophobia mental health epidemic for this city and other cities nationwide.

What is Anegrophobia? What is its origin? What are the symptoms?

Anegrophobia is the fear of African-Americans. It is a fear-based mentality/behavior that began circa 1700 when slave owners worried about their human chattel (African-American slaves) becoming unruly. These fearful slave owners enacted a system of slave codes to regulate the behavior of the oppressed slave class.

Early anegrophobia manifested in the mass media form of Propaganda-Negrophobia. Hollywood cinema contributed to the evolution of modern-day Anegrophobia with the film classic “Birth of A Nation.”

Also, the Civil Rights Movement and additional amendments to the Constitution attempted to suppress anegrophobia. Nevertheless, cases of anegrophobia continue to rise during the affirmative action era.

Remember: Anegrophobia affects everyone, even African-Americans. So be
aware of the symptoms of anegrophobia:

1. Clutching your purse or wallet in the presence of an African-American male.
2. Suspecting a casually dressed African-American Male (especially if he is running) is about to start trouble.
3. Leaving a social gathering when three or more African-Americans are present.
If you or someone you know has any of these symptoms, call the George Washington Carver Holistic Health Commission of Tuskeegee Ala. Reconciliation and Crisis Help Line at 1-800-I’m Sorry.
Ken Stiggers is a television producer in Jackson.

Previous Comments

This – which may or may not be an attempt at humor – is seriously unfunny.


Either way, it’s a valuable commentary on a certanly nonfictitious phenomenon in America. It’s also missing a few criteria: 4. Assuming all African American women are promiscuous sexual predators. 5. Assuming all African American men are promiscuous sexual predators. 6. Assuming that any group of assembled African American teenagers is a gang gathering.


Fielding, this is humor, which I think you recognize. Also, I’d be more likely to take your posts in other areas more seriously if you didn’t post mean, pointless comments like this.


I thought it was humorous but didn’t want to say so in case I’d misinterpreted the writer’s intention (Finally, I get a joke!). It hadn’t occurrred to me that it might not be humorous until I read Fielding’s post. Fielding, why were you offended?


Stiggers is an African-American satirist here who isn’t afraid to make people uncomfortable along the way to making the points he wants to make. His pieces are usually more laugh-out-loud funny; you’ll see that in the next one. When he turned this one in, he characterized it as “very dry satire.” I think it’s quite powerful.


I certainly didn’t intend for my comment to interpeted as mean – I just don’t think it was funny – at all. By the way, my sincere apologies if it was taken that way.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.