White Fragility

>wet towels

>glasses in the bathroom

>bust up lip

>hotel room door discovered open

>gibberish and vulgar texts sent to Sarah and mom

>all my pills inexplicably gone

Yep, it's another drug pharmaceutical binge episode. How did I frick up my lip? Why are my towels wet? These are mysteries I'll never solve. Anyway, I need to stop abusing ambien and benzos because I CANNOT send fricked up texts to work colleagues which I KNOW is going to happen if I start my new job while still doing drugs.

just hide your phone and put your drugs away after you've dosed!

It's not that simple. Once I black out I'm capable of doing anything I can do sober, I just won't remember. I've tried putting my pills in a safe and high me just opened up the safe when I wanted to redose. It's time to put childish things aside and to embrace the responsibilities of adulthood.

I thought that I'd try to complete a quick effortpost on White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. I was introduced to this book by Mat Walsh's "Am I Racist". It reavealed just how much of a grift the whole woke enterprise is and while there are several people that enter these spaces with positive intentions, clearly there are those who are out to make money from the white guilt they are fostering. I didn't finish Am I Racist because I did drugs and blacked out.

This post will summarize the text. Strap in, check your privileges, and let's begin!

Who is Robin DiAngelo?

In White Fragility, DiAngelo introduces herself as such:

I am a white American raised in the United States. I have a white frame of reference and a white worldview, and I move through the world with a white experience.

She works as a consultant on racial justice which involves helping individuals and organizations see how racism is manifesting itself in their practices and outcomes.

Robin DiAngelo Notices

Robin DiAngelo is a white woman, and she has observed both herself and her peers regarding how they react to race. DiAngelo claims that white people are very uncomfortable that race is brought up, and even more disturbed when they are accused of being racist. According to DiAngelo, white people are brought up to view racism as an act committed by an individual, not a systemic issue that all white people are implicitly responsible for upholding.

This problem is one primarily displayed by White progressives, and DiAngelo considered White progressives to be the biggest threat to Black people. Need a definition? DiAngelo's gotchu:

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 colour 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.

At this point, some might be wondering why the frick she is so obsessed with race. Well, according to DiAngelo, race is one of the biggest social dilemmas humankind is dealing with. Her reasoning:

Race will influence whether we will survive our birth, where we are most likely to live, which schools we will attend, who our friends and partners will be, what careers we will have, how much money we will earn, how healthy we will be, and even how long we can expect to live.

If you're White, you probably operate under the axioms of individuality and objectivity. Being an individual means you are unique, even in a group of others who share your identity. If you see yourself as an individual, it is easy to distance yourself from the concept of racism. "I may be White, but I personally am not a racist White". The idea that we are objective beings stems from the Enlightenment period and it is a cornerstone of modernity.

DiAngelo asks you to reconsider your identity as an individual and instead focus on your Whiteness and how it makes you complicit in racism. Lastly, DiAngelo is adamant that BLACK PEOPLE CANNOT BE RACIST. This is important to understand if you wish to make sense of her entire thesis. While Black people may practice prejudice, they lack the systemic power to transform that into racism. In DiAngelo's own words:

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. Whites hold the social and institutional positions in society to infuse their racial prejudice into the laws, policies, practices, and norms of society in a way that people of color do not. A person of color may refuse to wait on me if I enter a shop, but people of color cannot pass legislation that prohibits me and everyone like me from buying a home in a certain neighborhood.

Do you agree?

The Biology of Race

Put your hand up if you believe that race is a biological truth? Many people hold that belief, especially in the West The belief is laid out as such:

Many of us have been taught to believe that there are distinct biological and genetic differences between races. This biology accounts for visual differences such as skin color, hair texture, and eye shape, and traits that we believe we see such as sexuality, athleticism, or mathematical ability.

DiAngelo doesn't believe in biological race. She argues that the concept has been used to justify societal stratification and the prejudice in society. It's easy to discriminate against Blacks if you believe they are genetically inferior. Hence, when American colonialists began the enterprise of slavery, they sought to prove Black people's inferiority in order to justify slavery and racism.

So if not biological, what is race according to DiAngelo. Read carefully, and digest this definition:

Race is an evolving social idea that was created to legitimize racial inequality and protect White advantage.

So race has nothing to do with our biology, and it has everything to do with protecting and advantaging those who belong to the category of "White". Slaves were picked for their utility, then the race theories came afterwards. Slavers weren't convinced slaves were dumb because of their race. Slavers convinced themselves that slaves were dumb to justify their commodification.

So what's the evidence that race is sociological and not biological? Well, DiAngelo points to the fact that categories of race are nebulous. Who is considered to belong in what group changes over time. For example, for a long time, American Italians weren't considered white and thus were discriminated against.

The key to becoming accepted as white is to look white. If you have light skin, colored eyes, and straight hair, you're well on your way to claiming that sweet White privilege. I, with my vantablack skin, will never pass as white and I will never enjoy Whiteness.

Race as a social category is used to justify the class divide. Black people occupy the lower class because they are genetically destined to. Whites find economic success because of the superiority of their whiteness. But what about poor whites? They gain their privilege by subjugating BIPOCs below them. DiAngelo explains this mindset:

I grew up in poverty and felt a deep sense of shame about being poor. But I also always knew that I was White, and that it was better to be White.

White Privilege

You've almost certainly encountered this term before, and at one point it was quite socially fashionable around some circles to brandish the phrase around, especially in an accusatory manner. DiAngelo discuss White privilege and its implications in White Fragility. She argues that being born White is desirable for a cornucopia of reasons. In short:

Being perceived as white carries more than a mere racial classification; it is a social and institutional status and identity imbued with legal, political, economic, and social rights and privileges that are denied to others. What are these advantages she speaks of? Well, for one, Whites are seen as the norm and default form of being human. Everything else is exotic. Being the norm imbues one with a sense of belonging, security, and self-esteem. A side effect of Whiteness being the norm is that it becomes invisible. White people don't want to discuss their own Whiteness, and to them, their race is invisible - they are raceless.

America is an exporter of white privilege. Hence, if you are white and live anywhere in the world, you still enjoy privilege thanks to American influence globally.

the United States is a global power, and through movies and mass media, corporate culture, advertising, US-owned manufacturing, military presence, historical colonial relations, missionary work, and other means, white supremacy is circulated globally. This powerful ideology promotes the idea of whiteness as the ideal for humanity well beyond the West. White supremacy is especially relevant in countries that have a history of colonialism by Western nations.

Despite the prevalence of White privilege, it remains mostly invisible to White people who choose to never, ever speak about it. Similarly, it is taboo to discuss the concept of White supremacy and to suggest that it still endures to this day. Chuds might insist that White privilege doesn't exist and that modern society is biased against young, white men, but a cursory analysis of the highest echelons of the professional world tells us differently. It appears that being White is a reasonably good marker for success.

• Ten richest Americans: 100 percent white (seven of whom are among the ten richest in the world)

• US Congress: 90 percent white

• US governors: 96 percent white

• Top military advisers: 100 percent white

• President and vice president: 100 percent white

• US House Freedom Caucus: 99 percent white

• Current US presidential cabinet: 91 percent white

• People who decide which TV shows we see: 93 percent white

• People who decide which books we read: 90 percent white

• People who decide which news is covered: 85 percent white

• People who decide which music is produced: 95 percent white

• People who directed the one hundred top-grossing films of all time, worldwide: 95 percent white

• Teachers: 82 percent white

• Full-time college professors: 84 percent white

• Owners of men's professional football teams: 97 percent white

The book is a bit dated, as the USA has had a non-white president, and the country is gearing up for their second one. Part of the privilege Whites enjoy involves participating in a racist society without ever having to acknowledge race.

DiAngelo concludes that we live in a racist society. As evidence, she posts a few stats, including the following:

They asked 626 white college students at twenty-eight colleges across the United States to keep journals and record every instance of racial issues, racial images, and racial understanding that they observed or were part of for six to eight weeks. The students recorded more than seventy-five hundred accounts of blatantly racist comments and actions by the white people in their lives (friends, families, acquaintances, strangers).

Jesus, mayos need to cool it with the racism. Furthermore, DiAngelo isn't convinced that society is becoming less racist with time. Instead, she believes that racism has taken on a new form and it continues to thrive even among younger generations.

Part of White privilege means that White people can lament on the "good ol' days" (MAGA?). Black people can't because the further you go into the past, the more racist things get. As DiAngelo explains:

The past was great for white people (and white men in particular) because their positions went largely unchallenged. In understanding the power of white fragility, we have to notice that the mere questioning of those positions triggered the white fragility that Trump capitalized on.

Pairing with White privilege is the concept of White solidarity. White people, culturally, stand in solidarity with one another. If you are White, you do not call out other White people's Whiteness, you don't make a fellow White uncomfortable on the axis of race, and you sure as heck don't point out when a fellow White is being racist.

White solidarity requires both silence about anything that exposes the advantages of the white position and tacit agreement to remain racially united in the protection of white supremacy. To break white solidarity is to break rank

White Woman Tears

DiAngelo touches on the topic of "white tears" which refers to the ways white fragility manifests when white people are challenged on their conscious or unconscious racial prejudices. She zeroes on the tears of white women in particular, and the tears being discussed are both literal and metaphorical.

White women tears are problematic for several reasons. Historically, they have had the power to rain down terror upon people of color. In this scenario, it is white men who commit the violence, but they are spurred on by white women tears. Such an example can be found in the story of Emmit Till, a fourteen-year-old boy who reportedly flirted with a white woman—Carolyn Bryant—in a grocery store in Mississippi in 1955. She reported the flirting to her husband who teamed up with his half-brother to hunt down the boy. They tortured and killed him, dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River. When his body was discovered, it was so disfigured that identification was difficult. According to DiAngelo, this is evidence that when a white woman cries, a black man

gets hurt."

White women tears also erupt when they are called out on their racism. The problem with this is that it prevents white women from learning and bettering their behavior, and it also shifts the attention away from marginalized groups. As she sums up:

Whether intended or not, when a white woman cries over some aspect of racism, all the attention immediately goes to her, demanding time, energy, and attention from everyone in the room when they should be focused on ameliorating racism. While she is given attention, the people of color are yet again abandoned and/or blamed

DiAngelo, who is a white woman, admits that she is guilty of expressing white women tears. But he learned from the experiences of BIPOCs, and she has realised the potentially destructive power of her tears.

But I try to be very thoughtful about how and when I cry. I try to cry quietly so that I don't take up more space, and if people rush to comfort me, I do not accept the comfort; I let them know that I am fine so we can move on

Conclusion

So, what do I think of White fragility? For starters, I have witnessed some of the behaviors pointed out by DiAngelo. However, I also recognise that certain social settings are brutal to navigate as a White person, especially when there is a tendency for you to be demonized and interpreted badly because of your skin color.

Secondly, as a Black man, I recognise some of these traits in myself! Yes, when topics of sexism and misogyny are brought up, I too display male fragility, and I refuse to accept that I may be part of a system that benefits me and subjugates women. This is something I need to work on so I can become a better person.

In closing, I find the concept of a White women making her living talking about anti-Black racism to be interesting. It is as though she found a way to monetise racism without being labelled a racist herself. If she was sincere, she would do these talks for free, but then she wouldn't be a grifter. I wonder how she would feel if she read these words? Would she acknowledge my critique, or would she display White fragility and be appalled that I would accuse of profiting off racism?

I've got a few effortposts in mind, and I'd like to get through them soon. Here are the topics on my list:

• The cringe of Peter Hitchens

• Queerplatonic relationships

• First day of work

• Postmodernism: The Definitive Post

It's been great my buddies. I should mention that I do not recommend this book, and it's painfully long. Save your time and don't bother, and if you do bother, definitely pirate it.