White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

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.

My Verdict

I want to begin by saying that I know many people (white people) have been offended by the words "White Fragility". It is important to note that the subtitle "Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" illustrates what this book is really about. If we are being honest, I think we need to admit that it is difficult. And if you don't believe this is true, then by the time you finish reading this book, you will probably rethink your initial assessment.

DiAngelo provides a vital service in pushing white Americans to interrogate their own role in structures of racism. One irony of the book, however, is that many of the people she condemns for white fragility were at least attempting to carry out such an interrogation, participating voluntarily in the author’s seminars with some semblance of good faith.

This book has value as a starting point, but I felt that it presented oversimplified arguments that seemed to be self-fulfilling. The book flattens people of any ancestry into two-dimensional beings fitting predetermined narratives. And reading DiAngelo offers little insight into how a national reckoning such as the one we’re experiencing today could have come about. In a “White Fragility” world, nothing ever changes, because change would violate its premise. While I think this book has value and it should be read, I think there are stronger texts that address the issue in a more complex way. This book is a good starting point, though. I give this book 4 stars.