White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.

In this "vital, necessary, and beautiful book" (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and "allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people' (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

Download readers guides at www.beacon.org/whitefragility.

Product details

Author: Robin DiAngelo; Michael Eric Dyson (Foreword by)
Language: English
Vendor: Commercial
Publisher: Beacon Press
Publication date: 2018
ISBN: 9780807047415
Category: Book
Added: June 19, 2020

Collections containing this item

    Tolerance

    Tolerance is the willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your...