A review by laura_corsi
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

2.0

Robin DiAngelo is a white woman who works for a diversity training firm that people and organizations can hire to come in and help them be more aware of how racism manifests in their workplace. Therefore, she is uniquely positioned as a white person to understand how all white people unconsciously perpetuate racism as a result of our socialization in a racist society. This concept of "white fragility" is what the recent book by Reni Eddo-Lodge is touching on as well. White people think that they are not being racist but when we are called on something that we do that is racist we react with anger, denial, and defensiveness. What DiAngelo points out is that all white people are racist even herself because we are participating in a racist society and that society positions white people as having more privilege than their minority peers. White people, therefore, are by default racist. (DiAngelo draws a distinction between Racism with a capital R and prejudice which can exist toward any person white, black, or in between. Racism however DiAngelo argues can only be perpetuated by whites toward minorities because of our position in society.)
This is a harrowing book for a white person but it goes down a little easier because it is written by a white person which helps with the defensiveness we may feel on being called out on our racism. It is written a little bit like a presentation, which makes sense given DiAngelo's background, but it made it a little less enjoyable to read because of that which is why I only gave it 3 stars. However, I do highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't understand what all that talk about white privilege is all about.
I would say this is a good primer to ease white people into this topic before reading Eddo-Lodge or Ta-Nehisi Coates.