I chose to talk about DiAngelo's article about White Fragility and I absolutely love it. DiAngelo mentions what White Fragility is, "This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress,". I learned about white fragility in the beginning of college and I just have been fascinated by it since because it made me realize how often I have seen it and how often it continues to go on.
The most white fragility I have ever seen was definitely during the summer of 2020 when all the protests and everything was going on. I'm very vocal when it comes to racial injustice so I was posting about it constantly and I was going to almost every single protest to support in any way I can. And the amount of white people that were on instagram claiming they didn't want to comment on what was going on because it made them uncomfortable or they were being completely ignorant by posting them having a fun day while all the terrible things were going on right in our city. It just shocked me how white people claim racial issues make them uncomfortable because they have the privilege to never have to deal with anything like that. Instead of white people using their privilege for good and using their voice to speak up, thy decide to stay quiet and comfortable because that's all they know.
Hi Amina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding and discussing what was happening in the cities in 2020. I appreciated hearing an insider's point of view about the occurrences of this time.
I can understand what it felt like to be a white person on social media during this time, but I used my platform to educate others. Using my voice to aid in the fight felt good. I was wondering what type of information you liked to use on your platform? I appreciate to hear from someone who was in Minneapolis during this difficult time.
Thanks for sharing!
Hello Amina,
ReplyDeleteBeing someone of Jewish descent I have always been able to see my relatives acknowledge their privilege so I have just been lucky to see that my whole life. Some people do not get raised that way, so when the George Floyd incident happened and people like you and I were more vocal, a lot of my friends that are white were very offended with what I had to say. Almost as if they couldn't believe what I was saying. It's crazy the ignorance that you can see if you look for it everyday. A lot of my roommates were very offended with being called out for their privilege but it's basically against my beliefs to not call out injustice when it is going on. Being quiet and comfortable has always been the "victim" mindset when it comes to white fragility and when they get called out for their own ignorance it really bothers them because they think they're doing nothing wrong. But, in reality, when it comes to bullying if my friend were to sit there while I'm getting tormented then that would prove they're a really bad friend. So, being quiet as a white person indicates that you don't really care.
hello Amina,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post because I could relate to it so much. I also am vocal on social media about racial injustice and was present during the George Floyd protests. Although people of all racial backgrounds were present at the protest, there were still a good amount of white people watching from the sidelines of the protest because they were uncomfortable to get near the actual protest, or they just wanted some "good" content for their social media pages. While reading the article, I thought a lot about that protest. Did you witness any white fragility at the protest you attended?