But there's another frightening election scenario I dread as a Black man -- and that few people seem to be talking about.

It's what happens if an armed Black person clashes with an armed White person at a protest and bullets start flying.

Images of such a confrontation could upend the presidential race, hobble Black Lives Matter and undo much of the White support for racial justice that surged during the George Floyd protests this summer.

Such a scenario may seem implausible, but it's only a camera click away because of two trends.

A number of armed, far-right White groups emboldened by Trump's "law and order" message are confronting anti-racist protesters across the nation. And there is a growing Second Amendment movement among Black Americans who are forming their own armed groups.

What happens if these two movements collide?

Why more Black people are buying guns

FBI Director Chris Wray reflected some of that concern recently when he said he's worried about violent clashes between far-left and far-right groups at racial protests this fall.

Such a confrontation almost came to pass this summer when hundreds of heavily armed members of a Black group called the "Not F**king Around Coalition" converged in Louisville, Kentucky for a protest against police brutality after the death of Breonna Taylor.

They were met by an armed, largely White extremist group called the "Three Percenters." The two groups yelled at one another but were kept apart by riot police. Shots were fired at the event when a NFAC member dropped his weapon and accidentally injured three other NFAC members with buckshot.

The NFAC also marched on a Confederate memorial in Stone Mountain, Georgia, in July. With some members dressed in black paramilitary uniforms and carrying ammunition belts, they looked like an updated version of the Black Panthers.

One of their members grabbed a megaphone and called for a showdown with White vigilante groups.

"I don't see no White militia, the Boogie [Boogaloo] boys, the Three Percenters, and all the rest of these scared-ass rednecks," the man said as he cradled a rifle in his lap. "We here, where the f**k you at? We're in your house."

The leader of the NFAC did not respond to an interview request from CNN.

A group of armed Black people also marched earlier this year in Brunswick, Georgia, where Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man, was shot to death after being chased by at least two White men.

Not all of these Black groups are challenging White vigilante groups. Many say they formed for a variety of reasons: to protect protesters, to assert their Second Amendment rights and to guard their communities against corrupt police officers as well as White supremacists.

One member said that Black people "can't just sit there when your family gets murdered or people get murdered."

Black people not aligned with these groups are arming themselves as well. Organizations of Black gun owners are reporting huge surges in membership. More Black women are buying guns. Many members of these groups said they joined because stories

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