4 White Fragility Reading Guide Find it online at beacon.org/whitefragility
Additional Tips for a Productive Discussion
As DiAngelo notes, white people addressing white fragility surfaces several dilemmas. First, it requires
that white people be centered in the conversation about racism. is can be problematic because it
reinforces the white centering that is taken for granted in society at large (it is the author’s hope, how-
ever, that it is a centering that exposes, rather than protects, the workings of white supremacy). Second,
it positions white people—yet again—as the experts. Based on these dilemmas, the following points are
important to keep in mind:
1. is book and its arguments build on antiracism scholarship and activism that people of color
have written for generations. at scholarship has been fundamental to the ability of the author
to explicate white fragility. Use this text as the starting point—rather than the ending point—to
educate yourself on racism. ere are many suggestions for engaging with the work of people of
color in the Resources for Continuing Education section of the book.
2. e primary goal for white people working to understand racism is not to learn how racism im-
pacts people of color. e primary goal is to recognize how the system of racism shapes our lives,
how we uphold that system, and how we might interrupt it.
3. For people of color, multiracial, and Indigenous peoples who are part of an informal or formal
discussion group, the book and this guide will hopefully validate your lived experiences and oer
some helpful insight into the challenges of trying to talk to white people about racism. Like the
book, this guide is primarily focused on raising the consciousness and increasing the cross-ra-
cial skills of white people. In so doing, many of the questions will be specic to them. Yet while
the work of this text is primarily focused on the role that white people play within the system
of racism, people of color are exposed to the same messages and must also consider how those
messages have impacted them and the resultant role they may play. is dynamic is colloquially
described as “assimilation” (or “acting white”) and is described in scholarship as “collusion.” ese
terms refer to people of color upholding values and behaviors that negatively impact their own
and other groups of color and ultimately support white supremacy. ere are many pressures to
collude, the foremost of which is that there are rewards for conformity with the system. If we
behave in ways that the dominant group nds favorable, we will likely receive benets (or at least
minimize penalties) in our daily interactions with them. As you study the dynamic of white fra-
gility, consider your role and responsibilities in relation to collusion and adapt questions accord-
ingly and as needed.
Note for those using this guide outside of the US context
e dynamics of white fragility are familiar in all societies in which white people hold institutional
power and/or have a white settler colonial history, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe,
and South Africa. While the book focuses on the specic sociopolitical context of the US, it is for you
to reect on how these dynamics manifest in your specic sociopolitical context. For white people who
did not grow up in the US but live in the US now, consider how US-based racial dynamics (and globally
circulating US cultural stories and images) shape your current ideas about race, your life, and cross-racial
relationships.