White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Dr. Robin DiAngelo

Jun 2018 · Sold by Beacon Press

About this ebook

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.

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.

Ratings and reviews

Incredibly informative and thought-provoking. I believe in reading things that make you feel uncomfortable. Challenging the reasons for why those things make you uncomfortable, and the growth that comes from discomfort and pushing past it to understanding rather than hiding in the sand. I want you to read the one star reviews, and I want you to understand that these are the people who read something that made them uncomfortable and decided to run and hide from it. These are the people who read something that should have inspired them to think about why it made them uncomfortable and why they felt the need to rebel against it, and did not. Read these one star reviews and recognize that if you have a melanin deficiency and are reading about the black experience and somehow find a way to make yourself the victim then it is imperative that you read this book. I feel sorry for the one star reviews. For they will lead the unexamined life

As a black man myself, I find this race baiting trash does nothing but cause trouble. Someone trying to make a quick buck by writing something designed to aggravate people, white and black. It's just another reinforcement for victim mentality that plagues my race. The author should be ashamed of themselves.

Well...it's a book. The premise is just blm-antifa garbage. Every race, creed, group of people on this planet are guilty of what is written in these pages. It is human nature since the dawn of our species. How about we talk about those 5 racist Police Officers that swarmed and killed that young, defenseless Black man. Yes, Black Folk can be racist against themselves; case in point, Chicago.

About the author

Robin DiAngelo is an academic, lecturer, and author and has been a consultant and trainer on issues of racial and social justice for more than twenty years. She formerly served as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University.