White Fragility is a great start and continuation book for every white person's journey to be anti-racist. It made me recognize a lot of my own racist behaviors, and also give me advice on how to avoid those behaviors in the future. There was a point where I had to ask "so how do I fix it?" since most of the advice on where we go from here is in the final chapter. I highly recommend this to my fellow white people, especially if you are open to being informed of how you perpetuate racism, intentionally and not. ( )

Required reading for white people, especially if it makes you uncomfortable. ( )

Summary: White fragility is the unwillingness and incapacity of white people to recognize and address the advantage that whiteness offers. That fragility shows itself most powerfully when white people are confronted by the systemic racism that they benefit from. White people claim that they do not think in racial categories which enables them to maintain moral superiority while benefiting and preserving a system that favors them. In reality, racism created the social construct of race and is in itself the system which grants advantages to white men and oppresses those of other races. It is not just an individual practicing discrimination based on prejudice. It is the whole system.

Pros:

Cons: The author generalizes all people based on her own experience. She states that she assumes systemic racism exists and therefore does not seek to justify that belief. There are a number of historical errors. There is a frequent confusion of equality of dignity and equality of capability and equality of opportunity for individuals (not groups), especially as it relates to current conditions. Terms get redefined to suite an end.

Evaluation:

I still have so much to learn, but this book was so informative. ( )

Groundbreaking book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when discussing racism that serve to protect their positions and maintain racial inequalityIn this groundbreaking and timely book, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility. 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 explores how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.