maurganne's review against another edition
5.0
This is an amazing book. DiAngelo breaks down incredibly complex concepts of race- whiteness in particular- in straightforward, direct, and yet compassionate terms that are as refreshing as they are informative. I felt validated, buoyed, and somehow relieved by this unflinching examination of what it means to be white, especially in America. DiAngelo doesn't stop there, though. She provides sound guidance about how individuals can face the realities of whiteness and racism with integrity and impact if that's what they choose to do. The work is up to the reader and it's a lifelong undertaking, but the results could be revolutionary. I'll be returning to this book for her no-nonsense accountability, but also to take advantage of her expertise in having these difficult conversations with both white people and people of color.
dorothy_gale's review against another edition
5.0
"It is not humanly possible to be free of prejudice"
While my mixed race includes white, I don't experience the world as a white person. And yet, I'm not black and I can see how this book can be tremendously useful to people of all races -- especially those living in the U.S. I gave this book 5 stars because it is thought-provoking, practical, and blunt. I wish there were people like this author out teaching this content to kids and adults alike. We all have unconscious biases that affect our behavior. We should all be on a journey to improve. Some quotes I liked from the book:
"Most white people have limited information about what racism is and how it works."
"Despite its ubiquity, white superiority is also unnamed and denied by most whites."
"Conceptualizing myself on an active continuum changes the question from whether I am or am not racist to a much more constructive question: Am I actively seeking to interpret racism in this context? And perhaps even more importantly, how do I know?"
"What has enabled you to be a full, educated, professional adult and not know what to do about racism?"
And then there were the 11 Unwritten Rules for Giving White People Feedback on their often unconscious racist assumptions and patterns -- wow. Nailed it.
This book had a Goodreads rating of 4.52 stars by 9,631 people at the time I read it. Publishers Weekly gave it a red star.
While my mixed race includes white, I don't experience the world as a white person. And yet, I'm not black and I can see how this book can be tremendously useful to people of all races -- especially those living in the U.S. I gave this book 5 stars because it is thought-provoking, practical, and blunt. I wish there were people like this author out teaching this content to kids and adults alike. We all have unconscious biases that affect our behavior. We should all be on a journey to improve. Some quotes I liked from the book:
"Most white people have limited information about what racism is and how it works."
"Despite its ubiquity, white superiority is also unnamed and denied by most whites."
"Conceptualizing myself on an active continuum changes the question from whether I am or am not racist to a much more constructive question: Am I actively seeking to interpret racism in this context? And perhaps even more importantly, how do I know?"
"What has enabled you to be a full, educated, professional adult and not know what to do about racism?"
And then there were the 11 Unwritten Rules for Giving White People Feedback on their often unconscious racist assumptions and patterns -- wow. Nailed it.
This book had a Goodreads rating of 4.52 stars by 9,631 people at the time I read it. Publishers Weekly gave it a red star.
megabyte117's review against another edition
5.0
This is a must read for white people who are prepared for the difficult conversation of privilege and how racism is more than just slurs, and perpetrated at large by all of us.
rrickman33's review against another edition
3.0
Read a chapter from this book with my friends each week for a little book club. It was fun to discuss each chapter in great detail rather than sitting down and reading the entire book. While it was a great learning tool for us (almost all of us are white) I would like to read books by POC. Robin DiAngelo is a white woman, and even though she says so multiple times in the book, I would like to read about racism and how to be anti-racist from someone who is not white.
I recommend this for a group of white friends for a book club but would also encourage people to read other books as well and not just this one.
I recommend this for a group of white friends for a book club but would also encourage people to read other books as well and not just this one.
robdabear's review against another edition
1.0
You know what, this is a hard review to write. Hard because by writing it, I am apparently proving DiAngelo's point, but by not writing it, I am also proving DiAngelo's point, and overwhelmingly more difficult because to publicly criticize, by the author's definition, makes me publicly racist, I guess.
The Kindle version of this book was gifted to me by a stranger following an argument revolving around DiAngelo's supposed willingness to publicly debate the book with people of color who disagree. I had originally stated that I didn't have time to read the book and other excuses, but was won over by the principle that I shouldn't argue about something I know nothing about. Fair enough.
Little did I know that instead of learning something, I was just going to spend a few hours reading an arrogant, masturbatory self-flagellation of "whiteness" using tenuous (at best), self-selected definitions of "racism" and backed by the premise that if you are white and you disagree with DiAngelo, you are very obviously racist yourself. Indeed, my initial conclusion upon finishing, before having time to process, was really that this is a 200-ish page book writing about how Robin DiAngelo is racist. Neat.
I get a better sense of the book's premise, and perhaps less apathy, from its many positive reviews than from the book itself. Any argument that loops the basis of "if you disagree, you prove me right" is a very weak one to me. There seems to be this implicit discomfort in white people to tacitly admit racism exists in today's society. It does, I certainly don't disagree, and it's a very uncomfortable thing for a lot of people to talk about for a variety of complex reasons. That's fine and fair and an argument anyone could make, but DiAngelo goes further than this to support her thesis by virtually ending the conversation for white people there. Read the reviews and count how many times you see the phrase "white tears." How could you possibly invalidate an argument when to attempt to do so not only validates it, but also makes you look like an unsympathetic racist and thus a terrible person?
There's something interesting that I've noticed, though, from reading through the book's positive reviews, and I think it ties to my biggest criticism. White people who like this book generally seem to feel genuinely ashamed of themselves in confronting their so-called white fragility. And you know, maybe that's okay. If you feel like you're complicit in DiAngelo's version of racism, which essentially boils down to being white and alive, shame is the only natural feeling. But my biggest problem with this is, then what? As another, more popular negative review mentioned, DiAngelo offers no path forward. What then are we supposed to do if we feel shamed in our complicity and in acknowledgement of our own racism? Perhaps if we feel shame from our own white guilt, that means we are doing something, or doing "enough." Never mind actual, real, visible instances of racist discrimination, language, or violence (and no, I don't mean "language as violence").
Really I think that's just it. There are very real things that happen in today's world that are so classically, appallingly racist, and yet in her own arrogance it seems DiAngelo's only answer is to just feel bad about it because you are white and racist yourself. That's it. You are not required to do anything. Nothing else you do is good enough because you are white.
There are a multitude of other issues with the book including a continued insistence that correlation implies causation and a constant refusal to consider counterarguments to her claims because doing so would be racist. How easy would it be if I could shut down any criticism of me, ever, by just claiming the criticism is racist and therefore invalid. And so on.
Honestly, regardless of my opinion on the thesis of the book, I have to imagine there are much better written, better researched books out there that attempt to defend the same points while excluding DiAngelo's paradoxical admission of racism while also acting like a white savior of sorts. It sort of felt like someone saying "I have black friends so it's okay for me to say it." About halfway through the book I was more interested in reading through the research in her citations than the book itself. The fight against racism is real, and I felt like White Fragility only served to devalue that.
Or you know, maybe I'm just fragile. So be it. I only read the book so I could know what was going on if and when DiAngelo ever decides to publicly debate someone. That's what I'll hold out for.
Be excellent to each other.
The Kindle version of this book was gifted to me by a stranger following an argument revolving around DiAngelo's supposed willingness to publicly debate the book with people of color who disagree. I had originally stated that I didn't have time to read the book and other excuses, but was won over by the principle that I shouldn't argue about something I know nothing about. Fair enough.
Little did I know that instead of learning something, I was just going to spend a few hours reading an arrogant, masturbatory self-flagellation of "whiteness" using tenuous (at best), self-selected definitions of "racism" and backed by the premise that if you are white and you disagree with DiAngelo, you are very obviously racist yourself. Indeed, my initial conclusion upon finishing, before having time to process, was really that this is a 200-ish page book writing about how Robin DiAngelo is racist. Neat.
I get a better sense of the book's premise, and perhaps less apathy, from its many positive reviews than from the book itself. Any argument that loops the basis of "if you disagree, you prove me right" is a very weak one to me. There seems to be this implicit discomfort in white people to tacitly admit racism exists in today's society. It does, I certainly don't disagree, and it's a very uncomfortable thing for a lot of people to talk about for a variety of complex reasons. That's fine and fair and an argument anyone could make, but DiAngelo goes further than this to support her thesis by virtually ending the conversation for white people there. Read the reviews and count how many times you see the phrase "white tears." How could you possibly invalidate an argument when to attempt to do so not only validates it, but also makes you look like an unsympathetic racist and thus a terrible person?
There's something interesting that I've noticed, though, from reading through the book's positive reviews, and I think it ties to my biggest criticism. White people who like this book generally seem to feel genuinely ashamed of themselves in confronting their so-called white fragility. And you know, maybe that's okay. If you feel like you're complicit in DiAngelo's version of racism, which essentially boils down to being white and alive, shame is the only natural feeling. But my biggest problem with this is, then what? As another, more popular negative review mentioned, DiAngelo offers no path forward. What then are we supposed to do if we feel shamed in our complicity and in acknowledgement of our own racism? Perhaps if we feel shame from our own white guilt, that means we are doing something, or doing "enough." Never mind actual, real, visible instances of racist discrimination, language, or violence (and no, I don't mean "language as violence").
Really I think that's just it. There are very real things that happen in today's world that are so classically, appallingly racist, and yet in her own arrogance it seems DiAngelo's only answer is to just feel bad about it because you are white and racist yourself. That's it. You are not required to do anything. Nothing else you do is good enough because you are white.
There are a multitude of other issues with the book including a continued insistence that correlation implies causation and a constant refusal to consider counterarguments to her claims because doing so would be racist. How easy would it be if I could shut down any criticism of me, ever, by just claiming the criticism is racist and therefore invalid. And so on.
Honestly, regardless of my opinion on the thesis of the book, I have to imagine there are much better written, better researched books out there that attempt to defend the same points while excluding DiAngelo's paradoxical admission of racism while also acting like a white savior of sorts. It sort of felt like someone saying "I have black friends so it's okay for me to say it." About halfway through the book I was more interested in reading through the research in her citations than the book itself. The fight against racism is real, and I felt like White Fragility only served to devalue that.
Or you know, maybe I'm just fragile. So be it. I only read the book so I could know what was going on if and when DiAngelo ever decides to publicly debate someone. That's what I'll hold out for.
Be excellent to each other.