White Fragility

 I found Robin DiAngelo's piece on white fragility to be a rather interesting, but an important piece. Article topics like this one, can be hard for many to discuss. But, DiAngelo brings up many strong opinions about white privilege and racism. This article brought up many hard to have conversation topic points that can make people feel uncomfortable. This article made me reflect on my experiences. 

I grew up in a relatively small town, but the setting was far from rural. While the agriculture world lived directly outside of the city limits, it is not a common profession for many families in the school district. My high school was close to half white and half minority races. Because of this, I felt that I had a good understanding and grip on the topic of race/cultures and how to be an ally per say for them. However, when I got to college, I had to take a course that was based on creating inclusive spaces my freshman year. The grasp that I thought I had on in this area, was nothing compared to what I learned through this course. 

DiAngelo's article hit even harder on the idea that it's difficult for white people to have conversations about race. She said, "In a white dominant environment, each of these challenges becomes exceptional. In turn, whites are often at a loss for how to respond in constructive ways (DiAngelo 57)." I even find myself at fault for this sometimes. Even though I try to be progressive in this way, I'm still not 100% sure on the way to react or how to respond, even though I have built a better understanding for this. It just goes to show that we all need to be better at building an inclusive space for all and know how to respond to instances like this, if it were to happen. 

DiAngelo, Robin, and Alex Tatusian. White Fragility, Public Science, New York, NY, 2016, p. 57.