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.

Author: Robin Diangelo
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 11/17/2020
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9780807047408
ISBN10: 0807047406
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Discrimination
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies | General
- Self-Help | Personal Growth | General

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.