Bibliographer’s comments in red font.

Quotes in black font or preformatted boxes.

Criticism (2 – one American)

Raluca Bejan of Dalhousie University

Robin DiAngelo’s ‘White Fragility’ ignores the differences within whiteness

"Published by Beacon Press in 2018, White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Race has now become a sensation in the wake of the protests after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police. The book’s success did not come by chance. 

...White Fragility’s author, Robin DiAngelo, has nurtured the concept since 2011, with a paper she published in the International Journal of Critical Pedagogy. A former education professor, DiAngelo left academia for the much more lucrative business of providing racial sensitivity training to those unable to grapple with the racial realities of their workplaces. 

Despite grandiose claims of establishing a “sociology of dominance,” the book contains little thought-provoking material and makes several problematic assumptions. ... [Insider status; Homogeneity over difference; Capitalism and labour; A U.S.-centred understanding of race; Racialist classifications...]."

John McWhorter, Columbia University, NY, USA

  • Bibliographer’s note: I’ve included McWhorter’s article since i) he’s an academic who has written about race, and ii) a cursory search of Canadian universities results in a list of endorsements for DiAngelo’s concept, but for Bejan. Bejan (preceding entry) focusses her criticism on whiteness, McWhorter on Blackness.

The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility

...I have learned that one of America’s favorite advice books of the moment is actually a racist tract. Despite the sincere intentions of its author, the book diminishes Black people in the name of dignifying us. This is unintentional, of course, like the racism DiAngelo sees in all whites. Still, the book is pernicious because of the authority that its author has been granted over the way innocent readers think.

Endorsements (10)

White Fragility Clinic

The White Fragility Clinic also ran in 2022 and 2023.

2024 White Fragility Clinic Schedule

Posted by GHO Admin on January 8, 2024 in Speakers

An accredited learning activity offered as part of the Professional Development Seminar Series (Anti-Oppression/EDI).

With Dr. Gaynor Watson Creed

Are you ready to move to a place of awareness and informed action? Do you aspire to being a better ally and are seeking tools and support to do so?

This very interactive session will provide you the opportunity to:

-  explore, in a safe and non-judgmental space, issues including the concept of whiteness, white fragility and its role in racism

-  build and practice racial resilience


Upcoming Sessions:
  • Thursday Jan 11, 1-2 PMThursday, Feb 8, 1-2 PMThursday, Feb 22, 1-2 PMTuesday, Mar 5, 1-2 PMThursday, Mar 21, 1-2 PMThursday, Apr 4, 1-2 PMThursday, Apr 18, 1-2 PMTuesday, Apr 30, 1-2 PMThursday, May 16, 1-2 PMTuesday, May 28, 1-2 PM  
    • Registration limited to 15 faculty and staff - contact gho@dal.caThis one-credit-per-hour Group Learning program meets the certification criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and has been certified by the Continuing Professional Development Office of Dalhousie University for up to 1.0 (per hour of session) Mainpro+ credits. As an accredited provider, Dalhousie University, CPD, designates this continuing professional development activity for up to 1.0 credit hours (per hour of session) as an accredited group learning Section 1 activity as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

    Royal Roads University

    Dismantling Systemic Racism and Acknowledging White Fragility

    Acknowledging white fragility

    When the topic is racism, interactions can quickly seem like an uncomfortable threat to personal identity. Robin DiAngelo uses the term “white fragility,” to describe the discomfort and unwillingness of white people to accept or engage on the topic of systemic discriminations. DiAngelo believes this discomfort is a result of socialization defining racism as deliberate actions taken by bad people. Since most people know they are not bad, they do not believe they could possibly be racist; they therefore do not believe they need to do anything differently. This evasiveness protects the status quo, when, in fact, racism is a multi-layered system that requires understanding how white people benefit from a racist society and contribute to continued oppressions. 

    Addressing systemic discrimination, white supremacy, the ongoing impact of colonization and promoting diversity, reconciliation, and inclusion is a lifelong journey, involving ongoing engagement in action, individual and collective reflection, learning, and an orientation to possibility. This is core to the work of 21st Century leaders.

    We would like to thank Cheryl Heykoop, Rebeccah Nelems, Mike Lickers, Guy Nasmyth, and Phil Cady for contributing ideas to this post.

    Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly, Ryerson University)

    White Privilege

    Definitions related to white privilege:

    White fragility: A state where a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves that include outward display of anger, fear and/or guilt, behaviours such as argumentation, silence and leaving the stress-inducting situation (DiAngelo, 2016, p. 247). 

    This is bafflegab, not a definition:

    Colonization: A by-product of a people who forgot that the creator made no mistakes when he created you and who needs to find ways to stand that up in themselves (Mercurio, 2019). 
    In, Seeing the Racial Water: A Conversation with Robin DiAngelo, Robin DiAngelo says: 

    1. [A] big piece of being white is never having to bear witness to the pain of racism on people of colour.

    2. Whiteness keeps white people elevated, which results in white privilege, white advantage. And to question or oppose any of the concepts above, is white fragility. White supremacy “includes the far end extreme but it also describes the middle, the norm - white as ideal, white as the norm for humanity and everyone else as a particular kind of deficient humanity.

    3. To be a little less white means a little less oppressive, ignorant, arrogant, oblivious, certain and a little more humble and curious and vulnerable.

    The concept of whiteness “stays centered by being never marked or named” and allows it to remain prominent in society and the system. Whiteness suggests that white people are the norm and to prevent society from viewing white people racially as it would interrupt their “ability to speak from as the universal human voice and as unique special individuals outside of race.” 

    Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly, Ryerson University)

    Seeing the Racial Water: A conversation with Dr. Robin DiAngelo

    Dine & Discourse 

    Dine and Discourse are interactive sessions featuring guest experts and thought leaders.

    TMU community members are invited to engage in cultural or social topics related to equity, diversity and inclusion.
    Seeing the Racial Water: A conversation with Dr. Robin DiAngelo 

    On April 11, 2019, Dr. Robin DiAngelo joined the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion (OVPECI) for an interactive conversation on her work on ‘white fragility’ which has influenced the international dialogue on race.

    Dr. DiAngelo’s work outlines the way race shapes the lives of white people, what makes racism so hard for white people to see and common white racial patterns that prevent us from moving towards greater racial equity. 

    Weaving information, analysis, stories, images and familiar examples, Dr. DiAngelo provides the framework needed to develop white racial literacy. Although the focus is on white racial identity development, people of color may also find the analysis valuable as it is one that is rarely affirmed or provided in mainstream society.
    • Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion (OVPECI). “Seeing the Racial Water: A conversation with Dr. Robin DiAngelo,” Dine & Discourse, Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly, Ryerson University), https://www.torontomu.ca/equity/events-awards/dine-discourse/, accessed 20 May 2024

    University of Manitoba (1 of 2)

    White fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism

    Dr. Robin DiAngelo, an educator, author and activist on critical racial and social justice education, will deliver this year’s Robert and Elizabeth Knight Distinguished Visiting Lecture on Feb. 6, 2020.
    The Book White Fragility will be for sale at the event for a cost of $22. Cash, Visa and Mastercard are accepted for payment.

    Dr. DiAngelo will be doing a book signing immediately following the lecture.
    “Dr. DiAngelo’s work is thought provoking,” says Dr. Janice Ristock, Provost and Vice-President (Academic). “Her lecture will provide a great opportunity for our community to engage in this important conversation. Conversations such as these are part of our ongoing commitment toward equity, diversity and inclusion at the University.”

    Professors and instructors are invited to register their classes for this event. If registering a class or group, please indicate the number of seats required and a contact name/information for the group. Individuals, groups and classes may register; staff should check with their supervisors if they are interested in attending.

    University of Manitoba (2 of 2)

    President’s message on the upcoming Knight Lecture: White Fragility

    "The UM has a deep and abiding commitment to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion. These are core values of our institution and they inform our behavioural policies and underpin all of our activities.

    I invite you to attend this free event and be part of the community that collectively advances this important commitment."

    University of Victoria

    Robin DiAngelo will be on campus…

    This event is not free, someone paid DiAngelo’s speaker’s fees. 

    Dr. Robin DiAngelo, author of bestselling book entitled "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" will be on campus Wednesday, November 21, 2018 at 7:00 pm. Location: UVic Bob Wright Building, Room B150.  Free Event. Ticket Required.

    University of Windsor

    White Privilege, Fragility, and White Supremacy

    Please view the below links on White Privilege, Fragility, and White Supremacy 

Books: 

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For[sic]People To Talk About Racism — by Robin DiAngelo

Videos:

Dr. Robin DiAngelo Discusses 'White Fragility'

    University of Regina

    A Review of Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education by Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo — Michael Cappello

    I suspect Cappello is inadvertently describing academics and educators struggling with the bafflegab that is rife in EDI discourse: 

    "During a recent conference, I found it interesting as I listened to academics and educators struggling to articulate and use the language of anti-racism. One teacher suggested that, often, he has to refer to the dictionary in order to make sense of the words being used in these complicated conversations about anti-oppressive theories."

    University of British Columbia

    Psychology EDI Book Club: Nice Racism – How progressive white people perpetuate racial harm by Robin DiAngelo

    Interested in learning and talking about antiracism?

UBC Psychology faculty, students, and staff are invited to join the department’s Equity Committee at their next Book Club discussion on November 30.

The next book for discussion is Nice Racism – How progressive white people perpetuate racial harm by Robin DiAngelo.

Building on the groundwork laid in the New York Times bestseller White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo explores how a culture of niceness inadvertently promotes racism.

In White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo explained how racism is a system into which all white people are socialized, and challenged the belief that racism is a simple matter of good people versus bad. DiAngelo also made a provocative claim: white progressives cause the most daily harm to people of color. In Nice Racism, her follow-up work, she explains how they do so. Drawing on her background as a sociologist and over 25 years working as an anti-racist educator, she picks up where White Fragility left off and moves the conversation forward. Writing directly to white people as a white person, DiAngelo identifies many common white racial patterns and breaks down how well-intentioned white people unknowingly perpetuate racial harm.
    • University of British Columbia. “Psychology EDI Book Club: Nice Racism – How progressive white people perpetuate racial harm by Robin DiAngelo,” Events, Department of Psychology, November 30, 2022, https://psych.ubc.ca/events/event/book-cub-nice-racism/, accessed 20 May 2024

    Simon Fraser University

    SCHOLAR INTERVIEW: ROBIN DIANGELO

    EPISODE 1 – ROBIN DIANGELO ON RACISM AND WHITENESS

    In this episode, Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses the field of whiteness studies and the relationship between laws as the social contract, and the responsibilities of educators to prepare young people to advocate for social justice.

    keywords: racism, whiteness, white supremacy, social justice education, school to prison pipeline, teacher education, identity, human rights education