White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

by Robin DiAngelo

Given how seldom we experience racial discomfort in a society we dominate, we haven’t had to build our racial stamina.

Though white fragility is triggered by discomfort and anxiety, it is born of superiority and entitlement. White fragility is not weakness per se. In fact, it is a powerful means of white racial control and the protection of white advantage.

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.

The simplistic idea that racism is limited to individual intentional acts committed by unkind people is at the root of virtually all white defensiveness on this topic. To move beyond defensiveness, we have to let go of this common belief.

If, as a white person, I conceptualize racism as a binary and I place myself on the “not racist” side, what further action is required of me? No action is required, because I am not a racist. Therefore, racism is not my problem; it doesn’t concern me and there is nothing further I need to do. This worldview guarantees that I will not build my skills in thinking critically about racism or use my position to challenge racial inequality.

Whites have blind spots on racism, and I have blind spots on racism.

Giving us white people feedback on our racism is risky for people of color, so we can consider the feedback a sign of trust.

Feedback on white racism is difficult to give; how I am given the feedback is not as relevant as the feedback itself.

I must not confuse comfort with safety; as a white person, I am safe in discussions of racism.

My analysis must be intersectional (a recognition that my other social identities—class, gender, ability—inform how I was socialized into the racial system).