In one of the more intriguing paragraphs of the book, the author states “...although globalization and the erosion of workers’ rights has had a profound impact on the white working class, white fragility enabled the white elite to direct the white working class’s resentment toward people of color. The resentment is clearly misdirected, given that the people who control the economy and who have managed to concentrate more wealth into fewer (white) hands than ever before in human history are the white elite” (p. 60). She delivers an important truth while “coloring” it to fit her narrative. Although she acknowledges that the resentment of white working class is misdirected against people of color, by placing emphasis on the people in power being mostly white and even downplaying the plight of white workers (“...the white working class has always held the top positions within blue-collar fields” (p. 60)), as well as through the various techniques previously described, she is effectively exacerbating the problem by misdirecting the resentment of people of color back toward the white working class.
The 2015 Bernie Sanders rally in Seattle was grossly misrepresented. DiAngelo describes,
“...the crowd of white progressives who showed up to hear Bernie Sanders speak in Seattle and were asked by black activists to grant four and a half minutes of silence to honor Michael Brown, an unarmed black man shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri: ‘How dare you!’ the crowd cried” (96).
It is important to note that black activists did not politely request for a moment of silence. Based on transcripts and video, cofounders Marissa Janae Johnson and Mara Jacqueline Willaford threatened to shut down the event if he did not let them speak, then addressed the crowd: ‘You guys are full of bull**** with your black lives matter. You’re never going to hear Bernie speak unless I hear silence here now.’ This is not to criticize the Black Lives Matter protesters, as some may rightly feel that forcibly taking the stage is the only way to be heard. In fact, this move seemed to have a positive impact, as Johnson herself stated that she was pleasantly surprised by Bernie’s response and the changes that he made. At the same time, this type of hijacking and confrontation is guaranteed to rile up any crowd. It is important to realize that white (or any) progressives are crucial allies who are fighting for the economic justice that is essential for making progress on race-related issues.
By characterizing outrage as a manifestation of white fragility, DiAngelo traps herself in the Kafka fallacy. She states,
“...I have observed countless enactments of white fragility. One of the most common is outrage: ‘How dare you suggest that I could have said or done something racist!’” (p. 116).
Essentially, an individual’s outrage and denial of being racist is taken to be evidence that they are racist. This is a recurring theme throughout the book.
An entire chapter of the book is dedicated to white women’s tears, and how given the historic significance of black men being tortured and murdered due to a white woman’s distress, white women’s tears are offensive to black people (p. 132). As a result, if a white woman in DiAngelo’s seminar is moved to tears, she is asked to leave (p. 131). She further states that when men of color try to comfort white women, it drives a wedge between men and women of color (p. 137). This speaks to an incredible dysfunction and attempts to resolve it with more dysfunction. In psychology, exposure therapy is often used to overcome phobias and trauma, particularly when the objects are difficult to avoid in daily life. Famously, Little Albert was conditioned to fear furry objects due to an association with loud noises. He later experienced extinction and lost the mental association. While white women’s tears may be uncomfortable at first, and one can certainly be sensitive and accommodating if it becomes too disruptive, extinction is needed in order to build cross-racial empathy and heal racial tensions. The real issue is described by the woman of color quoted in her book:
“You are ashamed or some such thing and cry, but we are not allowed to have any feelings because then we are being difficult” (136).
The obvious solution, therefore, is not to suppress emotions of the white woman, but to encourage expression of emotions by the black woman without judgment.
Finally, DiAngelo admits, “I am often amazed at what I can say to groups of primarily white people. I can describe our culture as white supremacist and say things like ‘All white people are invested in and collude with racism’ without my fellow white people running from the room or reeling from trauma,” describing her methods by saying “I strategically guide people to a shared understanding of what I mean by those claims” (p. 116). She further explains that people are receptive to the presentation as long as it remains abstract. While it may certainly be true that this is due in part to defensiveness exhibited by the audience member, there is a cautionary message hidden in her statement. Particularly when not properly equipped to detect logical fallacies and inconsistencies, it becomes very easy in the abstract to follow a speaker down her train of thought to virtually any conclusion when under the guise of a positive idea such as racial justice. Oftentimes, it is the specific real world examples that widely reveal the irrationality of a claim and cause one to say, “Actually, this does not seem right.”
While some of this may seem nitpicky, a sound logical analysis is needed in order to keep the conversation from going off the rails. At the same time, a decreased emphasis on the trivial would reduce much of the noise that detracts from the overall mission. This would produce a coherent message that would be much more widely accepted without unnecessarily alienating large segments of the population. I believe the answers to this complex issue will not be found in the minutiae but in a broader view of society.
DiAngelo, Robin J. White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018.
Written by Ramya. Artwork by Dhanya.
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