My mom sent me her brief summary of White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo.
In countless ways, white people in American society are the standard and people of color the exception. White dominance is a product of racism, but also a protection from its traumas. Whites live in “a cocoon of racial comfort, centrality, superiority, entitlement, racial apathy, and obliviousness, all rooted in an identity of being good people free of racism.” As a result, whites become defensive and emotional if confronted with the racism embedded in their status, a reaction that the author — a trainer in racial and social justice — labels “white fragility.” DiAngelo makes this point repeatedly and with many examples, and she offers advice for a lifelong effort to rid oneself of white fragility and the racism that feeds it. A succinct version can be found in DiAngelo’s article “White Fragility,” International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, Vol 3 (3) (2011) pp 54-70.
