Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

Robin DiAngelo

ISBN 10: 0141997427 / ISBN 13: 9780141997421

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, 2022

About this Item

Robin DiAngelo, Penguin Books Ltd. An incisive follow-up to the Sunday Times bestseller White Fragility asserting that it is white progressives who are responsible for inflicting the most daily harm on people of colourRacism is not a simple matter of good people versus bad. In White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo explained how racism is a system into which all white people are socialized. She also made a provocative claim- that white progressives cause the most daily harm to people of colour. In Nice Racism, her follow-up work, she explains how they do so. Drawing on her background as a sociologist and over twenty-five years working as an antiracist educator, she moves the conversation forward. Writing directly to white people as a white person, DiAngelo identifies many common racial patterns and breaks down how well-intentioned white people unknowingly perpetuate racial harm. Writing candidly about her own missteps and struggles, she models a path forward, encouraging white readers to continually face their complicity and embrace courage, lifelong commitment and accountability. Nice Racism is an essential work for any white person who wants to take steps to align their values with their actual practice, and offers people of colour an 'insider's' perspective which may be helpful for navigating whiteness.Robin DiAngelo is an academic, lecturer, and author working in the fields of critical discourse analysis and whiteness studies. She is a lecturer at the University of Washington and formerly served as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University. DiAngelo has been a consultant and trainer for more than twenty years on issues of racial and social justice.

Seller Inventory # 9780141997421-RETAIL

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141997427
• ISBN 13: 9780141997421
• Binding: Paperback
• Book Type: Paperback

About this title

Synopsis

We've all seen it. A white person is called to account for racism and responds with incredulity, offering a litany of justifications and excuses. White progressives will insist they cannot be racist, using evidence such as "I have a black friend" or "I have traveled extensively." Their friends will vouch that the behavior cannot be racist because "He's a really nice person." It's clear that many white people do not understand systemic racism and cannot separate intentions from impact. In this insightful follow-up to her acclaimed bestseller White Fragility, sociologist Robin DiAngelo illuminates the subtle and insidious racial patterns of progressive white people, revealing how a culture of niceness actually protects racism.

Writing directly to white people as a white person, DiAngelo identifies many common white racial patterns and explains how white people who see themselves as racially progressive can cause the most daily harm to people of color. These patterns include rushing to prove that we are "not racist," downplaying white advantage, pretending white segregation "just happens," co-opting indigenous and other groups' rituals, and allowing shame or personal trauma to immobilize and excuse inaction. She challenges the ideology of individualism and explains why it is appropriate to generalize about white people in order to challenge racism. She demonstrates how white people who experience other oppressions still benefit from systemic racism.

Writing candidly about her own missteps and struggles, and drawing on her insider's perspective, DiAngelo models a path forward, encouraging white readers to continually face their complicity and embrace courage, lifelong commitment, and accountability.