White Fragility
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3.9 • 104 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
Customer Reviews
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
This book is a valuable first step to examining racism. Unfortunately, most people who need to read this book prefer to live in their bubble world where racism does not exist.
The title says it all
In two parts, the title reveals the weaknesses in this book.
“White Fragility” suggests that white People, in their every action and being are enacting racism and protecting their privilege l, and that any action, effort, or word on their behalf is merely an expression of their racial fragility designed to further protect their privilege. It’s a circular argument, in which the very effort to refute it, is taken as evidence for the argument.
Worse, the second part of the title, “why it’s so hard for white people to talk about race,” is a sham, because Deangelo doesn’t advocate for white people to talk about race, as their efforts to do so are cast almost always as inauthentic defense mechanisms, but to listen, uncritically to any and all people of color as they talk about race, never venturing to ask, who do we listen to when people of color disagree about race.
Cast aside such simplistic takes on a complex cultural phenomenon, and read John McWhorter…a person of color who deftly explores the complexities of our current racial reckoning.
An essential read for white people
This book should be required reading in schools.