“White Fragility”

White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin Diangelo is a challenging book full of thought-provoking anecdotes and discussions. It’s currently a best-seller, and I hope that means people will be influenced by the difficult ideas and concepts that the author presents, and will seriously think about the implications of her definition of racism as a feature of society rather than a feature of an individual. Her starting point:

• “Let me be clear. If your definition of a racist is someone who holds conscious dislike of people because of race, then I agree that it is offensive for me to suggest that you are racist when I don’t know you. I also agree that if this is your definition of racism, and you are against racism, then you are not racist. Now breathe. I am not using this definition of racism, and I am not saying that you are immoral. If you can remain open as I lay out my argument, it should soon begin to make sense.” (p. 13-14)

I hope many people will not only buy, but also read this book with an open mind and willingness to consider the author’s way of seeing our society.