I recently finished reading the book "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin DiAngelo (2018). I read many books, but every now and then I come across one that I feel is a "must read." This is one such book.
Even though the book is labeled as a New York Times Bestseller, I had never heard of it, so when I saw it on a bookstore shelf, I was intrigued. After reading the blurbs on the cover and in the first pages, I was even more so. Being, I suppose, a bit masochistic, I bought the book and took it home to find what was wrong with me. My first surprise on reading a bit was to find that the author is white! (she's not an "angry black woman.") And that fact, I believe adds to the strength of her argument.
Ms. DiAngelo, the blurb tells us, has been among other things "a consultant and trainer for more than twenty years on issues of racial and social justice." She has addressed many groups in industry and education on the matter of racial diversity, and her stories of her many experiences and conflicts in this field bring life to the principles she lays down.
She tells the reader that her book is intended for "white progressives;" she defines 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'" (page 5). I feel that I fit somewhere in that broad category, so as I read I braced myself for what was coming.
Before going any further, I suppose I should tell a bit about myself and where I'm coming from. I am a white Evangelical Christian, who considers himself a bit progressive. I spent many years as an instructor in a predominately black Bible College. I was for a time a member of a church whose membership was composed nearly entirely of African Americans. I have felt that racism has divided the church in America and have made much effort to "cross the line." I have also written much about race in this blog (type in "race" at the top). Yet I know I'm not there yet, and the more progress I've made, the farther I feel I need to go.
The author doesn't (to my knowledge) give a concise definition of white fragility; rather she describes it: its origins, its many manifestations. We could even say that nearly the entire book is devoted to simply giving us examples.
We who are white are born into privilege; we are, she tells us "insulated from racial stress." When we are confronted in any way concerning our often unconscious superiority feelings, we immediately go on the defensive. We respond with a wide range of emotions, which reinforce and "maintain our dominance within the racial hierarchy." She conceptualizes this process as white fragility.
Ms. DiAngelo deals with many areas throughout the book. She deals with "White Supremacy." Whites have power and status solely by being white. "Whiteness," she tells us, "rests upon a foundational premise: the definition of whites as the norm or standard for human, and people of color as a deviation from that norm." (p. 25) By seeing ourselves as not "white," but simply human we reinforce the idea of white supremacy.
Racism, she feels, is adaptive. We like to believe that it is not as prominent as before the civil rights movement. But we adapt; we rationalize; we use signs and symbols that allow us to discriminate without really saying so. Even the acknowledgement of our white privilege can be simply an excuse for the way things just are.
The fifth chapter begins "This chapter explores what is perhaps the most effective adaptation of racism in recent history: the good/bad binary." Since the Civil Rights Movement we can no longer regard racism as acceptable as it was previously, so we see racism as that which is held by "bad people," and not ourselves. We're told, however, "that the good/bad frame is a false dichotomy. All people hold prejudices, especially across lines in a society deeply by race." (p. 72)
On page 77 she lists what she calls "color-blind statements" which are familiar to most of us, many of which we all (including myself) have used: "I was taught to treat everyone the same," "I don't see color," etc. These are followed by "color-celebrate" statements, which "embrace racial difference." All these are defenses we use to defend ourselves from charges of racism.
I entirely agree with her statement on page 87: "I have found it much more useful to think of myself as on a continuum. Racism is so deeply woven into the fabric of our society that I do not see myself escaping from that continuum in my lifetime." (In fact I have used similar words myself.) We like to point out the sins of the Jim Crow South or the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville. That comforts us in our own racism.
The author continues to illustrate white fragility through the rest of the book. Her main ways for dealing with it is to recognize it and seek to correct it, even confront it, and to avoid defensiveness when confronted with our racism. She devotes her final chapter to interrupting and repairing racism.
It was the chapter on the "good/bad binary" and its pointing out the ubiquity of racism that brought to my mind the biblical/theological teaching on original sin. We are all on a continuum of sinful attitudes and behaviors. We find it easy on ourselves to point out those whose sin is more obvious than ours. We judge others and not ourselves. That's why I would strongly recommend this book to my white Evangelical Christian friends, no matter where on the spectrum they may feel they are. Racism - an aspect of sin - permeates our culture. We who are followers of Christ need to recognize and confess our racial attitudes and to be continually open to correcting and being corrected.
The only real negative that I see in this book is that it could possibly overwhelm a sincere white reader with feelings of guilt, or of fear of committing a faux pas. And rather than leading to more openness about race, it could have a quelling effect and lead in the opposite direction.
Even though the book is labeled as a New York Times Bestseller, I had never heard of it, so when I saw it on a bookstore shelf, I was intrigued. After reading the blurbs on the cover and in the first pages, I was even more so. Being, I suppose, a bit masochistic, I bought the book and took it home to find what was wrong with me. My first surprise on reading a bit was to find that the author is white! (she's not an "angry black woman.") And that fact, I believe adds to the strength of her argument.
Ms. DiAngelo, the blurb tells us, has been among other things "a consultant and trainer for more than twenty years on issues of racial and social justice." She has addressed many groups in industry and education on the matter of racial diversity, and her stories of her many experiences and conflicts in this field bring life to the principles she lays down.
She tells the reader that her book is intended for "white progressives;" she defines 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'" (page 5). I feel that I fit somewhere in that broad category, so as I read I braced myself for what was coming.
Before going any further, I suppose I should tell a bit about myself and where I'm coming from. I am a white Evangelical Christian, who considers himself a bit progressive. I spent many years as an instructor in a predominately black Bible College. I was for a time a member of a church whose membership was composed nearly entirely of African Americans. I have felt that racism has divided the church in America and have made much effort to "cross the line." I have also written much about race in this blog (type in "race" at the top). Yet I know I'm not there yet, and the more progress I've made, the farther I feel I need to go.
The author doesn't (to my knowledge) give a concise definition of white fragility; rather she describes it: its origins, its many manifestations. We could even say that nearly the entire book is devoted to simply giving us examples.
We who are white are born into privilege; we are, she tells us "insulated from racial stress." When we are confronted in any way concerning our often unconscious superiority feelings, we immediately go on the defensive. We respond with a wide range of emotions, which reinforce and "maintain our dominance within the racial hierarchy." She conceptualizes this process as white fragility.
Ms. DiAngelo deals with many areas throughout the book. She deals with "White Supremacy." Whites have power and status solely by being white. "Whiteness," she tells us, "rests upon a foundational premise: the definition of whites as the norm or standard for human, and people of color as a deviation from that norm." (p. 25) By seeing ourselves as not "white," but simply human we reinforce the idea of white supremacy.
Racism, she feels, is adaptive. We like to believe that it is not as prominent as before the civil rights movement. But we adapt; we rationalize; we use signs and symbols that allow us to discriminate without really saying so. Even the acknowledgement of our white privilege can be simply an excuse for the way things just are.
The fifth chapter begins "This chapter explores what is perhaps the most effective adaptation of racism in recent history: the good/bad binary." Since the Civil Rights Movement we can no longer regard racism as acceptable as it was previously, so we see racism as that which is held by "bad people," and not ourselves. We're told, however, "that the good/bad frame is a false dichotomy. All people hold prejudices, especially across lines in a society deeply by race." (p. 72)
On page 77 she lists what she calls "color-blind statements" which are familiar to most of us, many of which we all (including myself) have used: "I was taught to treat everyone the same," "I don't see color," etc. These are followed by "color-celebrate" statements, which "embrace racial difference." All these are defenses we use to defend ourselves from charges of racism.
I entirely agree with her statement on page 87: "I have found it much more useful to think of myself as on a continuum. Racism is so deeply woven into the fabric of our society that I do not see myself escaping from that continuum in my lifetime." (In fact I have used similar words myself.) We like to point out the sins of the Jim Crow South or the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville. That comforts us in our own racism.
The author continues to illustrate white fragility through the rest of the book. Her main ways for dealing with it is to recognize it and seek to correct it, even confront it, and to avoid defensiveness when confronted with our racism. She devotes her final chapter to interrupting and repairing racism.
It was the chapter on the "good/bad binary" and its pointing out the ubiquity of racism that brought to my mind the biblical/theological teaching on original sin. We are all on a continuum of sinful attitudes and behaviors. We find it easy on ourselves to point out those whose sin is more obvious than ours. We judge others and not ourselves. That's why I would strongly recommend this book to my white Evangelical Christian friends, no matter where on the spectrum they may feel they are. Racism - an aspect of sin - permeates our culture. We who are followers of Christ need to recognize and confess our racial attitudes and to be continually open to correcting and being corrected.
The only real negative that I see in this book is that it could possibly overwhelm a sincere white reader with feelings of guilt, or of fear of committing a faux pas. And rather than leading to more openness about race, it could have a quelling effect and lead in the opposite direction.
