Listened on audiobook. The voice was breathy and professor like which put me off from the start so likely impacted my review.

I felt the author was very generalized in statement including all white people in her feelings (ie. "We depict black people as dangerous "). I don't appreciate anyone letting me know how I feel or think, but especially when it is incorrect.

This book is meant for people living in cities with a significant black population. Stating we say neighborhoods are dangerous but what we mean is that they are black, or that we avoid schools with low test scores because they are black schools. Again, felt these statements were generalized to depict all while people feel this way but also statements like these don't apply to everyone. The author also side stepped any other factors such as crime rate or desire for the best education for one's child.

I wanted so much from this book but this was not for me. ( )

This is probably the most racist recent book I have ever had the opportunity to read. It appears to be be written by a someone steeped in a race-essentialist metaphysical world view tinted with white supremacy and written for the author's co-racists.

However the author is aware of this fact and specifies her book's target audience in chapter 1:
“I believe that white progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color. I define a white progressive as any white person who thinks he or she is not racist, or is less racist, or in the “choir,” or already “gets it.” White progressives can be the most difficult for people of color because, to the degree that we think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived. None of our energy will go into what we need to be doing for the rest of our lives: engaging in ongoing self-awareness, continuing education, relationship building, and actual anti-racist practice. White progressives do indeed uphold and perpetrate racism, but our defensiveness and certitude make it virtually impossible to explain to us how we do so.”

The problem of course is that the entire argument in the book is presumes a racist white supremacist world-view where everyone is a reduced to a genetically determined avatar for a demographic dynasty and all subsequent discussions and solutions are trapped within the same. As is well noted the author applies a Kafka trap to anyone who rejects the racist world view she projects onto them by asserting the denial is proof.

If, like most modern Americans, you were not born in the south prior to 1960 you are likely not her target audience. This book is of little value and may in fact be a net negative. Read only to become familiar with the target audience above my be reading and only then if you have abundant spare time and nothing else at hand to read. ( )

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. Since the advent of the Civil Rights Movement, racism has not lessened but increased by becoming subtle. White people therefore go through life never feeling any racial pressure in a world desired to cater to their own feelings. They work to maintain that situation. If challenged, they have a carefully rehearsed set of excuses to protect them from the charge of racism, but all of them are based on a false good/bad dichotomy that does not recognize what racism really is or how it can be addressed.

Pros: The chutzpah of a white woman stealing the narrative of black America and selling it for profit as her own is genuinely impressive. I admire the boldness and lack of shame.

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 suit an end. There are lots of red herring fallacies as well as bait-and-switch fallacies. She is pretty explicit that truth is secondary to power when it comes to considering claims.

Evaluation: