This excerpt from DiAngelo's book, White Fragility, was a very important one to read, especially as a white person in America. This piece touches on concepts that are very hard for some people to hear, especially when they feel that they should not be thrown into this stereotype of what it means to be white. But that is why it is so important that we do review the information in this reading, as it sheds light on the short-fallings of even those white people who think they are on the right side of this topic.
This piece focuses on the discomfort white people feel when faced with the topic of racism. Many people react with anger, refusing to listen to what others have to say. By having the topic of race brought up to them, they feel that their character is being attacked. They refuse to even participate in a conversation about racism, because acknowledging it means they admit to benefitting from it. Interestingly, Diangelo suggests that these people are not always the least receptive to the information brought forth in training sessions; rather, it is those who have already labeled themselves as "progressive". They do not anger at the topic, but rather just fail to listen, because they believe they already know best. Because they put themselves forth as allies, they fail to see that they must continue to improve. Many of the things "progressive" white people do in order to appear as "woke" may be just as damaging as the things that people who do not identify in this way do.
When I first read this piece, I grappled a bit about the fact that it was written by a white woman. I felt wrong reading her opinions about race, rather than those written by black or other minority authors. After all, shouldn't we be making more room for them? While I do believe that we should make space for minorities in this conversation, I can understand why it is helpful to have a white woman writing on this. Not only is it not the responsibility of minorities to educate white people, it also seems to be helpful in helping white people accept this information. As a white, progressive woman, this article was hard-hitting. I can see that this is process of continual learning that I must continue to focus on in order to be the most anti-racist I can be. And, even when I do that, it is not possible for me to stop benefitting from the white privilege I experience. As sad as this fact is, it makes it easier for white people to understand that this is something even the most anti-racist and well-meaning people need to focus on.
DiAngelo, Robin. "White Fragility." International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, vol. 3, 2011, pp. 54- 70.
Your post brings up a lot of good points that I didn't think of initially. Especially talking about not being objective towards your own thoughts and truly engaging and listening about issues to continue to improve the things around us. I really do think you need to always be focusing on continual learning, a lot of the issues in our society are a continual and ever changing issue that you have to be informed on. I agree and think it's really important to name this a white people issue as it's our responsibility to learn about this and also understand. Not being able to stop benefitting from white privilege is so potent for me too and it really needs to be focused on an taught about. Just like any issue though educating others is extremely tiring, and frustrating. I feel like educating on white privilege is more strenuous and difficult due to having to just unravel so many complex issues and avoid land minds of statements coming off as if you're attacking a person's character. Slowly I have made progress in my own family and extended family on educating on this topic but it's really tiring. Hopefully we will get to a point in the future where we actually teach about white privilege earlier and more openly in schooling before college to help combat this issue, but it is a bit challenging right now.
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