This pilot study investigates the role of anxiety for early childhood pre-service social studies teachers as they learn methods to teach curriculum on slavery and associated issues such as racism or White privilege. The findings indicate that a variety of aspects cause pre-service teachers to experience anxiety around the thought of having to teach diverse student populations about slavery and related issues. Four different aspects could be identified in the data: 1) The desire to be a "people-pleaser", 2) the fear of disagreement among students which would likely lead to anger and conflict in the classroom, 3) the perceived differences of White teachers to students of color, and 3) the fear of offending parents. In this paper, we show how these four aspects are linked and how pre-service teachers often revert to teaching a single, historical narrative to control their anxiety. The data also suggests a connection between the family culture anxious pre-service teachers grew up in and the classroom culture they intend to create. It raises the question whether the way they experienced discussions about race-related topics at home--or the absence thereof--can lead to avoidance behavior and strong anxiety about potential parental backlash.