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White Fragility

Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Feb 05, 2021The_Most_Casual_Observer rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Subtitle: "The Unbearable Whiteness of Being." ~ Let me explain to you what has happened, from a historical viewpoint. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, it was expected that Black people would elect their own representatives, the power of the courts would be used to enforce civil rights, and everyone would soon enter a state of equity. The elections and court orders have happened. We have busing, an end to discrimination in housing and employment, and I don't know what all. But where is the equity? Everyone thinks that was promised to them, now where is it? Well, it hasn't happened. Clearly it stands to reason that someone has prevented it from happening, and a culprit must be found. That is the purpose of this book. The point is that white people retain their racist attitudes, although not as a conscious system of belief. They are so sensitive and egotistical that they overreact, emotionally, to suggestions that they are still profiting from white privilege. These are anecdotal results drawn from people who have been sent to the author by their employers, for training purposes. As a result, the whole thing sounds like one of those drug ads on TV for treating psoriasis or whatever. If a white person thinks they don't need any nostrums to cure racism, that's just another way white fragility manifests itself. So if white people object to being characterized as racist, that merely confirms that they are. It's Catch-22 for our times, you're damned if you don't, and damned if you do. This circular reasoning is the major flaw of the argument the book presents.