White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
“One cannot change what one refuses to see.”
White Fragility is a powerful, thought-provoking, enlightening and deeply meaningful book. It raises startling points about how white people have specific, sometimes unconscious, biases towards race while thinking we are colorblind.
Told from a sociological perspective, White Fragility discusses the challenges of talking to white people about racism and white supremacy. It is an eye-opening read that turned my ideas of race and racism completely on its head – and in a positive, much-needed way.
One of the best things about being an author and a reader is how much it teaches you about change. Character change, societal change, moral transformations. Change and seeing things from another viewpoint is so essential for all of us. I think if people can open their mind to what this book is saying, we could all have a more positive, productive conversation about race.
Some will feel defensive reading it. Some will feel uncomfortable. Some angry. But I encourage everybody to read it anyways. You might not agree with everything, but the point is to show us that the way forward is to stop taking things so personally when accused of white fragility, and instead to look to ways to help dismantle the systems that are in place.
