34. White Fragility

White Fragility. Robin DiAngelo. 2018.

I have heard a lot about this book, seen it referenced many places, and the term "white fragility" has certainly made its way into common lexicon among the academic folks I interact with, read, and follow.  I am going to start by saying reviewing this book is hard in the way that talking about race in general is hard.  First of all, it's a trap. How do you critique a book that has an entire section dedicated to talking about how white people who say that they are tired of racism 101 and would like something more nuanced and advanced are the problem?  Not just a problem, but actually more of a problem than the white supremacists. You basically just can't complain because, as described in the book, saying that I would like to level up the discussion is defined as the worst kind of racism.  In fact, complaining that I don't want to sit through or read the same material about racism and privilege makes me THAT kind of liberal white person who can't admit they are part of a system of white supremacy. 

But I disagree.  I am, it seems, constantly saying that I don't want to attend another course/book/workshop because I have already been to so many of them and it has been a very long time since I have found one to be useful or enlightening.  I can readily admit that I fall into the category of white liberals who are tired.  I am definitely not as tired of reading/listening to/participating in things about racism as POC are of experiencing racism, but I have read so much on this topic, have been going to workshops on [fill in the trending topic, be it diversity, cultural competency, privilege, anti-oppression, anti-racism, inclusion, difference, power and control, the list goes on] since at least 1995. Some years I probably read or went to a dozen things and there probably hasn't been a year that I did less than two or three.  I perceive myself, rightly or wrongly, as deeply committed to racial justice and to undoing systems of oppression and racism.  I understand, at least as much as one can learn from books, lectures, workshops, classes, and navigating the legal system with people of color as clients, how my own privilege benefits me. 

So, at the risk of sounding like I am just part of the problem, I will say that I was disappointed that this book did not bring more to the conversation.  Certainly, if you are relatively new to the topic or if you have resisted thinking about race, then this book, written by a white woman, will absolutely provide you with an solid introduction to things like white women's tears, why the blues lives matters counter protest is racist, implicit bias, and why saying that you don't need to read a book about racism because you aren't racist is a sign that you are likely racist.  But if you have done any serious amount of reflection on your personal contribution to racist systems, then this book is more of a good summary and survey of the greatest hits of things you should have learned by now.

I don't mean to be overly harsh, but it also just wasn't very well written.  I didn't find her anecdotes engaging, but rather condescending.  Even her examples about how white people can do better in classrooms and with colleagues felt like she was just looking for accolades for how great an ally she has been.  There were no examples of how to interrupt racism in a business meeting with your boss, in court, or with anyone with any power over you, which, of course, is the hard stuff that we never seem to get to in any of these books, which are inevitably written by white people with a tremendous amount of power in the situations they are describing.  Obviously, examples of an outside "expert" brought in by management as a trainer to educate a room full of people about racism holding people accountable is vastly different than interrupting racism in real life scenarios.  Give me that book or training and I am there. Level me up already. I'm done with the intro.

And of course, there's that entire chapter about how this makes me the problem.  Maybe it does.  

P.S. Points also taken off for a book about oppression that doesn't talk about intersectionality -- no meaningful discussion of Queerness or disability at all.

Not recommended.

---