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

DiAngelo, Dr. Robin; Dyson, Michael Eric [Foreword]

ISBN 10: 0807047414 / ISBN 13: 9780807047415

Published by Beacon Press, 2018

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 0807047414-4-23523292

Bibliographic Details

• Title: White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807047414
• ISBN 13: 9780807047415
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Fair
• Weight: 10 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Robin DiAngelo is an academic, lecturer, and author and has been a consultant and trainer on issues of racial and social justice for more than twenty years. She formerly served as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University.