White Fragility: A Racist Rant Not Worth Reading

A white academic has penned a scathing treatise on white racism.  Her book, White Fragility, accuses all Caucasians of being racist, even if they believe they are progressive.  The author eschews data or surveys to document her allegations.  You must take her word for the charge or be scorned.

Robin DiAngelo, currently an Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington, published her book in 2018.  Sales skyrocketed, landing her book on the New York Times bestseller list. Its publication was greeted with fawning critical reviews in the lackey media.

The author's thesis, summed up in The New Yorker, is that America stands on racist beliefs.  Such ideologies as individualism, the American Dream, choosing one's destiny and objectivity reflect the racist bias of Caucasians.  Ms. DiAngelo's conclusion is whites who embrace these ideals are racists.

In her view, whites have "counterproductive" reactions when their assumptions about race are challenged.  Those reactions prevent whites from acknowledging that racial inequality exists in the country.  On the other hand, people of color get a prejudicial pass from Ms. DiAngelo.

"People of color may also hold prejudices and discriminate against white people, but they lack the social and institutional power that transforms their prejudice and discrimination into racism; the impact of their prejudice on whites is temporary and contextual," she writes in her book. 

Ms. DiAngelo reserves special derision for white males, a breed of Homo Sapiens she finds sneeringly heinous.  From her book:

"For most of our history, straight white men have been involved in a witness protection program that guards their identities and absolves them of their crimes while offering them a future free of past encumbrances and sins."  White men represent all that is wrong with America, she claims.

The words on the pages of her book are filled with disgust even for those men who helped right wrongs.  "...Although we are taught that women were granted suffrage in 1920, we ignore that it was white women who received full access or that it was white men who granted it."

The author, who has spent many years writing and lecturing about white racism, claims Caucasians lack of understanding about "implicit bias leads to aversive racism." Translation: Whites are conditioned to be racists, no matter their experiences or personal beliefs.

Missing from her 192-page book are any facts, data, scientific studies to document her litany of white transgressions.  Ms. DiAngelo is the sole authority because she is after all, white.  She is better equipped than an African-American or anyone else to indict Caucasians based on her own biases. 

This kind of intellectual fraud has now become the definitive narrative on white racism. Sincere white people who purchased her book in hopes of valuable insight into race-related issues have been duped. Ms. DiAngelo sees herself as an evangelist who has founded a new religion based on white guilt.

I grew up in the grips of racism in the South.  I know what it looks and sounds like.  On the other hand, Ms. DiAngelo never set foot in the South.  Her views are informed by her prejudices. Apparently, she never bothered reading research studies that lampoon her own theories.

In 2019, Pew Research published the results of a seminal study on race relations.  The findings show that whites and blacks agree the country harbors racist views. Majorities of whites acknowledge racism endures, debunking Ms. DiAngelo's simplistic theme that Caucasians ignore its existence.

One of the illuminating findings in the Pew study is that African-Americans are overwhelming more likely to see their race or ethnicity as central to their identity.  Only 15% of whites identify themselves by the color of their skin. Irrefutably, your identity informs your viewpoint.

Research, however, has no place in Ms. DiAngelo's narrow world view of racism.  In her own words: "All white people are invested in and collude with racism. The white collective fundamentally hates blackness for what it reminds us of...We are capable and guilty of perpetrating immeasurable harm."

Each page oozes with adherence to identity politics, a central theme.  She makes no attempt to hide it, admitting that her book is "unapologetically rooted in identity politics."  Her unique insight comes from her ability to speak as "an insider" because she is white.  Huh?

This is nothing more dishonest than indicting an entire group of people--white, black, brown--using stereotypes.  Imagine authoring a book with no research based on the premise that all African-Americans are criminals because you've seen blacks in prison.  It would be rightfully condemned.

Ms. DiAngelo spent her early years as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University. Teaching multiculturalism has become trendy at state supported colleges.  Universities gain cache with the liberal establishment, which aids fundraising.

Apparently that experience burnished her credentials as an expert on race. But her words belie credible scholarship.  For example, she writes the following as evidence that all white people cling to deep seated feelings of superiority.

"White people raised in Western society are conditioned in a white supremacist worldview because it is the bedrock of our society and institutions."  She continues, "Even if you have people of color in your workplace or family, the ubiquitous socializing power of white supremacy cannot be avoided."

As the pages drone on, she concludes even righteous whites are not fooling African-Americans. "We do have them (racist views) and people of color already know we have them; our efforts to prove otherwise are not convincing."

Her thesis not only indicts whites as racist, but concludes African-Americans are equally prejudiced against well meaning whites.  It is an impeachment of both races.  My conclusion is Ms. DiAngelo herself is a narcissistic, self-loathing, bigot and her book belongs in a dumpster.

But don't take my word.  Here is Ward Connerly writing on the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal:    

"The claim that America is "systematically racist" is a false narrative that fuels racial paranoia, division and hatred.  If we can identify specific institutions or people within them that are racist, we should confront them.  If not, it doesn't serve us well to allow a false presumption of guilt to guide our conduct."

Who is Mr. Connerly?  A Trump supporter? A white supremacist?  Hardly.  Mr. Connerly is an African American from California, whose grandfather was born a slave and whose father lived through the Jim Crow era.  He currently is president of Californians for Equal Rights.

Mr. Connerly's views are much more informed than some cloistered academic.