123 books
—
22 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” as Want to Read:
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
by
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors in ...more
Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors in ...more
Paperback, 154 pages
Published
June 26th 2018
by Beacon Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
White Fragility,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Shelli
Well, that pretty much sums up why we need books like this.
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

I began reading this book with the assumption that I'd get a better understanding of why it's so hard to talk to other white people about race. Maybe there'd be a couple things I needed to be aware of in myself, but all in all, this would be a book about other white people.
Well! Damn if I wasn't wrong! Right in the beginning, Robin DiAngelo knocked me off of my why-I'm-not-racist pedestal. She called me out in the very beginning by suggesting that I the reader was probably sitting there thinkin ...more
Well! Damn if I wasn't wrong! Right in the beginning, Robin DiAngelo knocked me off of my why-I'm-not-racist pedestal. She called me out in the very beginning by suggesting that I the reader was probably sitting there thinkin ...more

This is absolute genius!
Let's start with a book (is it a book, really? Content and page count it's more a pamphlet) with a subtitle that dismisses any logical argument or counterpoint to the content of the pamphlet as being 'afraid to talk about' the subject. Let's then publish the pamphlet at a time when we're surrounded by white people who can't shut up about racism and are fighting tooth and nail over who can appear to be the most enlightened 'woke' white people. We'll finish the pamphlet by ...more
Let's start with a book (is it a book, really? Content and page count it's more a pamphlet) with a subtitle that dismisses any logical argument or counterpoint to the content of the pamphlet as being 'afraid to talk about' the subject. Let's then publish the pamphlet at a time when we're surrounded by white people who can't shut up about racism and are fighting tooth and nail over who can appear to be the most enlightened 'woke' white people. We'll finish the pamphlet by ...more

Skip this book entirely and read Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.
It covers much of the same info and is considerably better researched.
This book is written by a white person for other whites.
Most of what she writes is common sense but no doubt useful for white folks struggling to not feel attacked when racism is discussed.
I was annoyed at a remark about 21% in where the author points out that she isn't a fan of Black history month or Black firsts. The authors direct quote is "'I am not against Black H ...more
It covers much of the same info and is considerably better researched.
This book is written by a white person for other whites.
Most of what she writes is common sense but no doubt useful for white folks struggling to not feel attacked when racism is discussed.
I was annoyed at a remark about 21% in where the author points out that she isn't a fan of Black history month or Black firsts. The authors direct quote is "'I am not against Black H ...more

I'm undecided as to how to rate this book. On the one hand, it's a fantastic first step for folks just becoming aware of racism. But personally, as a POC who has been engaging with these concepts for years now, I found it very rudimentary. Which I can't really criticize it for! It's meant to be rudimentary! But it meant that my reading experience was both quick and a little dull. Which is no fault of the book. I will say that I was introduced to some sociological concepts that I hadn't been fami
...more

Half a century after the Civil Rights movement, vast disparities exist between blacks and whites in America. First and foremost, these group inequalities are caused by deep, historical trauma created by white racism and racist policies aimed against black persons and black culture. If slavery and Jim Crow caused a gaping wound, Civil Rights stitched it up; but underneath the wound still festers. How does this wound – the entrenched inequities between blacks and whites in America – continue to ex
...more

The book raises striking and specific points about how as whites we have biases toward race while pretending we are colorblind. She states specific examples, and outlays practical way forward.
Most of the lower star ratings of this book seem to be exhibiting the exact fragility she outlines, and really only prove to drive her point home further.
Even more, they seem to ignore the very clear outlining in the book of difference between personal and systemic racism. That the way forward is to stop t ...more
Most of the lower star ratings of this book seem to be exhibiting the exact fragility she outlines, and really only prove to drive her point home further.
Even more, they seem to ignore the very clear outlining in the book of difference between personal and systemic racism. That the way forward is to stop t ...more

Jun 15, 2020
jade
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
no one in particular
Recommended to jade by:
the blackout buddy read hosted by shae
this book is currently at the top of the new york times best seller list. it’s been there for eleven weeks straight, right in front of several other non-fiction books about race and racism written by people of color. it holds an average 4.5 rating here on goodreads with 32k+ ratings.
it’s also written by a white woman.
yes, well, bear with me.
the arguments in favor of that are about how white people accept criticism and callouts way better from other white people. they might even sit down to liste ...more
it’s also written by a white woman.
yes, well, bear with me.
the arguments in favor of that are about how white people accept criticism and callouts way better from other white people. they might even sit down to liste ...more

This is a sometimes interesting yet essentially broken vessel for the author's frustration in dealing with the ignorant and often prejudiced white people who have participated in her diversity seminars. The book trolls those participants while purporting to be a learning tool itself.
To a limited extent, it is that tool. Its chapter on white privilege provides a superb overview. Likewise its chapter on the essentially racist character of much U.S. history. These lessons can also be found elsewher ...more
To a limited extent, it is that tool. Its chapter on white privilege provides a superb overview. Likewise its chapter on the essentially racist character of much U.S. history. These lessons can also be found elsewher ...more

An excellent, powerful book I would recommend to all white people. It scares me a bit to write that because I imagine some white people may take offense to that statement (an emotional reaction Robin DiAngelo discusses in the book), and at the same time I stand by it. I will write a little about this book’s high quality, though I want to start with a personal story that may help explain why this book means a lot to me.
Around a year ago, I called a white woman colleague out on a behavior of hers ...more
Around a year ago, I called a white woman colleague out on a behavior of hers ...more

Jul 04, 2020
Mario the lone bookwolf
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
0-humanities,
0-social-criticism
Victim role and defense mechanisms prevent an emancipated and enlightened reappraisal of past and present grievances, culminating in worsening of system immanent problems, backlashes, and indirect and unconscious promotion of racial divide. Building mental suppression reflexes, fortifications against unwanted truth, is a sign of an immature and romantic idealization of one´s ego for the price of being part of the problem.
The term aversive racism is well chosen, it´s exactly the subconscious mec ...more
The term aversive racism is well chosen, it´s exactly the subconscious mec ...more

I'm not going to finish this book. Chalk it up to my white fragility. Fragility, phobia - when garbage humans want to slap a label on you they try to ensure it's one that marks you as scared or weak.
It's hard for white people to speak in general, not just about racism, because a generation of apologist losers are trying to convince white people that being white isn't okay. Brown pride? The world could use more of it. Asian pride? They've done amazing things and should be proud. White pride? Oh m ...more
It's hard for white people to speak in general, not just about racism, because a generation of apologist losers are trying to convince white people that being white isn't okay. Brown pride? The world could use more of it. Asian pride? They've done amazing things and should be proud. White pride? Oh m ...more

This book will cut you, white person, no slack. If you think you're progressive about race--and most white people think they are--you will be confronted by this book. It's not aimed at Klansmembers. It's aimed at the people who don't recognize where they fall short. That's me. It's probably you too.
...more

You Can't Win
We had a Native American come to a group that I attend, and the first words out of his mouth were, “I hate blacks.” I wasn’t there, but it was my understanding that the leader of the group gave him hell, how much hell I do not know. But no one else spoke up, and this bothered him. I heard this story and ran into him the following week when he sat down at the table where we were having breakfast. When he said that he was from Tulsa, I said, “When I think of Tulsa I think of the race ...more
We had a Native American come to a group that I attend, and the first words out of his mouth were, “I hate blacks.” I wasn’t there, but it was my understanding that the leader of the group gave him hell, how much hell I do not know. But no one else spoke up, and this bothered him. I heard this story and ran into him the following week when he sat down at the table where we were having breakfast. When he said that he was from Tulsa, I said, “When I think of Tulsa I think of the race ...more

Okay first let me start by saying that I’m not rating this book. It’s intentional. I don’t feel like I can fairly rate a book that was not written for me. It is clearly stated by the author at the beginning of the book and it’s clear by the subject matter. I won’t even say that I enjoyed this book because some parts were triggering and some parts made me pissed as hell BUT is this knowledge that people should be privy too? Yes. Do I think that all White people will benefit from this information?
...more

Audiobook...
....read by Amy Landon
“White progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color”.
“To the degree that white progressives think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived”.
Robin DiAngelo “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to bad people”.
For me - this book was phenomenal!
The last couple of days it’s become a family affair ‘hot topic’.( Paul, me, Ali, Adam)....
a topic we are committed to continue ...more
....read by Amy Landon
“White progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color”.
“To the degree that white progressives think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived”.
Robin DiAngelo “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to bad people”.
For me - this book was phenomenal!
The last couple of days it’s become a family affair ‘hot topic’.( Paul, me, Ali, Adam)....
a topic we are committed to continue ...more

I think the book resonated with me because in this turbulent time, I see every last one of these behaviors, right now in real time. It's like she's following me on social media.
------------------
------------------
[White fragility] is an idea that registers the hurt feelings, shattered egos, fraught spirits, vexed bodies, and taxed emotions of white folk. In truth, their suffering comes from recognizing that they are white—that their whiteness has given them a big leg up in life while crushing others’ dreams, t...more

There is no doubt that people of color have had and continue to have unfair biases and prejudicial acts committed against them. I agree in this area when she explains, through growing up in the inner city of Chicago, how this is so.
What I don't agree with is her book premise. How she assigns motives to white people, which may not be true..in particular the white woman talking over a black woman. I know plenty of white people who do this on a regular basis, In all white company. Does she really b ...more
What I don't agree with is her book premise. How she assigns motives to white people, which may not be true..in particular the white woman talking over a black woman. I know plenty of white people who do this on a regular basis, In all white company. Does she really b ...more

“I repeat: stopping our racist patterns must be more important than working to convince others that we don’t have them. We do have them, and people of color already know we have them; our efforts to prove otherwise are not convincing. An honest accounting of these patterns is no small task given the power of white fragility and white solidarity, but it is necessary.”
This is going to be a rambling sort of stream-of-consciousness style review à la Virginia Woolf (minus all the finesse!) I just wan ...more
This is going to be a rambling sort of stream-of-consciousness style review à la Virginia Woolf (minus all the finesse!) I just wan ...more

Aug 10, 2020
Greta
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
best-reviews
Why This Book Makes it so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Definition: White fragility—discomfort and defensiveness of a white person when confronted with racism.
Despite the sincere intentions of its author, I think that the book diminishes Black people in the name of dignifying them. DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops and how it protects racial inequality. She argues that white Americans must face their own racism, that was implanted in them by a racist society. Their refus ...more
Definition: White fragility—discomfort and defensiveness of a white person when confronted with racism.
Despite the sincere intentions of its author, I think that the book diminishes Black people in the name of dignifying them. DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops and how it protects racial inequality. She argues that white Americans must face their own racism, that was implanted in them by a racist society. Their refus ...more

Definitions
Here is the premise of a book I’m going to write: every person over eighteen is a child abuser. All adults are involved in a conspiracy to abuse children, and to maintain this status quo. If I confront you, an adult, about this and you react with anger, sadness, argumentation, silence, walking away, or any other possible human emotion, you have confirmed my accusation. You might think you deeply care about children, and you would never abuse them, but this is either denial or your sub ...more
Here is the premise of a book I’m going to write: every person over eighteen is a child abuser. All adults are involved in a conspiracy to abuse children, and to maintain this status quo. If I confront you, an adult, about this and you react with anger, sadness, argumentation, silence, walking away, or any other possible human emotion, you have confirmed my accusation. You might think you deeply care about children, and you would never abuse them, but this is either denial or your sub ...more

The provocative title of this book is a draw. What are we doing, saying, thinking that is unconscious and yet still brings out some kind of anger or fear response in us when challenged? I am constantly learning how much I don’t know about race in America and much more there is to know. DiAngelo is also white, by the way. She, too, makes racist mistakes, though more rarely now, even years after immersing herself in how it manifests. We can’t escape it. We have to acknowledge it.
That is basically ...more
That is basically ...more

As a Japanese woman I am appalled by the level of racism against white people the author is demonstrating in this book. And she herself is white! Which goes to show that self-hatred is strong with this one. She essentially says that all white people are racist, whether they know it or not (which shuts down all conversation in and of itself), and that that pseudo-fragility she's talking about along with the pseudo-reticence white people have when it comes to talking about racism are nothing more
...more

I’ve had this book on my kindle for over a month now, knowing that it was an important book to read, but I put it off. Why? Maybe because I was afraid of facing my “white fragility” or worse yet finding out I was a racist. The civil rights giant John Lewis passed away a couple of days ago. After reading a number of tributes profiling his life of courage and strength, a life dedicated to righting injustices against black peopIe, I decided it was time.
Perched on my couch in my house in a predomin ...more
Perched on my couch in my house in a predomin ...more

I want to preface this review by saying, despite some points I read critically, I do think White Fragility is a thought provoking book. Do I think it's perfect? No. Do I think a white woman, even one who has studied racial inequities with intense devotion could illustrate the profundity of the societal rot that is racism? No. But it's a start, and that is something.
I wrote down all these notes that I made while reading White Fragility, but then I came across this article, and the author puts it ...more
I wrote down all these notes that I made while reading White Fragility, but then I came across this article, and the author puts it ...more

It's been a few days since I finished this book, and I've been thinking about it so much. I love listening to nonfiction audiobooks and it's recently come to my attention that I haven't read any audiobooks that specifically deal with race and white privilege. This book was a very educational experience for me because before reading this book I had never even heard the term 'white fragility'. This book had so many powerful quotes that I will leave below:
“I was co-leading a workshop with an Africa ...more
“I was co-leading a workshop with an Africa ...more

May 26, 2019
Jenny (Reading Envy)
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
read2019,
newest-literary-fiction-group
I've spent the last month discussing this book in a Goodreads group. While the book is only 169 pages, it was helpful to proceed slowly and really talk about the points DiAngelo was trying to make, working past the defensiveness. I feel like it should be required reading for all white people. DiAngelo ends the book with very practical ideas that I found very useful.
Highlights:
-The concept of belonging and how central it is to whiteness, more of an assumption
"If you believe that you are being tol ...more
Highlights:
-The concept of belonging and how central it is to whiteness, more of an assumption
"If you believe that you are being tol ...more

“White fragility is not weakness per se. In fact, it is a powerful means of white racial control and the protection of white advantage.”
Should I just regurgitate the message that every white person needs to read this?
Yeah. I think I will.
And some aspects of this fragility can also nicely extend to POC communities.
Should I just regurgitate the message that every white person needs to read this?
Yeah. I think I will.
And some aspects of this fragility can also nicely extend to POC communities.

I nearly returned this book. I had purchased the audiobook from Audible, and I found the tone to be dry, dull, and schoolmarmish. If I was to picture Robin DiAngelo, it would be my middle school librarian, wagging her finger at me. I had this reaction despite knowing what tone policing is. Despite consciously being aware that it is a common response for white people to focus on the method of information delivery over the actual information being delivered, and to prioritize their comfort over th
...more

Aug 07, 2020
Lori
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Lori by:
Jenna's review
I bought some books after George Floyd was murdered, a few before Rayshard Brooks. All before those little girls were laid on the ground and handcuffed. I got this one not even realizing a white woman wrote it. A friend's review did just what great reviews should, and hers do: jarred me, made me uncomfortable and left me ripe for reading this...
And I brought to this book everything Robin DiAngelo already knows about me without knowing me: my belief I'm not a racist because I have very close frie ...more
And I brought to this book everything Robin DiAngelo already knows about me without knowing me: my belief I'm not a racist because I have very close frie ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Play Book Tag: White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism - Robin DiAngelo - 5 Stars | 3 | 25 | Nov 28, 2020 07:09PM | |
De Boekenclub: Voor tijdens het lezen | 2 | 2 | Oct 20, 2020 04:30PM | |
Bookworm Bitches : August 2020: White Fragility | 12 | 88 | Aug 25, 2020 03:40PM | |
What's Next?: Book Review: White Fragility | 1 | 5 | Aug 22, 2020 12:33PM | |
Play Book Tag: White Fragility - second half of review | 2 | 14 | Aug 09, 2020 06:20AM | |
Play Book Tag: White Fragility - 4 stars Robin Di Angelo | 2 | 16 | Aug 09, 2020 06:18AM |
Robin J. DiAngelo is an American academic, lecturer, and author working in the fields of critical discourse analysis and whiteness studies. She formerly served as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University and is currently an Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is known for her work pertaining to white fragili
...more
Articles featuring this book
Let’s be honest: It’s a lot of pressure to pick your book club’s next read. But never fear, readers are here! We combed through our data...
91 likes · 109 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“It is white people’s responsibility to be less fragile; people of color don’t need to twist themselves into knots trying to navigate us as painlessly as possible.”
—
93 likes
“I believe that white progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color. I define a white progressive as any white person who thinks he or she is not racist, or is less racist, or in the “choir,” or already “gets it.” White progressives can be the most difficult for people of color because, to the degree that we think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived. None of our energy will go into what we need to be doing for the rest of our lives: engaging in ongoing self-awareness, continuing education, relationship building, and actual antiracist practice. White progressives do indeed uphold and perpetrate racism, but our defensiveness and certitude make it virtually impossible to explain to us how we do so.”
—
72 likes
More quotes…