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  • White Fragility

  • Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
  • By: Robin DiAngelo
  • Narrated by: Amy Landon
  • Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,099 ratings)
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White Fragility cover art

White Fragility

By: Robin DiAngelo
Narrated by: Amy Landon
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Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.

Anger. Fear. Guilt. Denial. Silence.

These are the ways in which ordinary white people react when it is pointed out to them that they have done or said something that has - unintentionally - caused racial offence or hurt. After, all, a racist is the worst thing a person can be, right? But these reactions only serve to silence people of colour, who cannot give honest feedback to 'liberal' white people lest they provoke a dangerous emotional reaction.

Robin DiAngelo coined the term 'White Fragility' in 2011 to describe this process and is here to show us how it serves to uphold the system of white supremacy. Using knowledge and insight gained over decades of running racial awareness workshops and working on this idea as a Professor of Whiteness Studies, she shows us how we can start having more honest conversations, listen to each other better and react to feedback with grace and humility. It is not enough to simply hold abstract progressive views and condemn the obvious racists on social media - change starts with us all at a practical, granular level, and it is time for all white people to take responsibility for relinquishing their own racial supremacy.

©2019 Robin DiAngelo (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"With clarity and compassion, DiAngelo allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people'. In doing so, she moves our national discussions forward. This is a necessary book for all people invested in societal change." (Claudia Rankine)

"By turns mordant and then inspirational, an argument that powerful forces and tragic histories stack the deck fully against racial justice alongside one that we need only to be clearer, try harder, and do better." (David Roediger, Los Angeles Review of Books)

"The value in White Fragility lies in its methodical, irrefutable exposure of racism in thought and action, and its call for humility and vigilance." (Katy Waldman, New Yorker

What listeners say about White Fragility

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    2 out of 5 stars

Very repetitive, very preachy, poorly evidenced

There are definitely some thought-provoking bits to this book. I am glad I read it. But....

1) It is very repetitive. By the end I was thinking - 'yes, you've said this 10 times already'.
2) Most of the book rests on nothing more than anecdote from the author's facilitation of classes. Good quality evidence is the exception rather than the norm.
3) The tone is very preachy.
4) The author redefines words (like 'racism' and 'white supremacist') away from their common English usage to a meaning that fits and supports the authors preferred theory. She then complains that the people in classes she facilitates use the normal/traditional use of these terms rather than her preferred novel definition.

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93 people found this helpful

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  • AJ
  • 12-06-20

Pseudoscientific and un-constructive

The book is underpinned with the important idea that racial prejudice runs deep and is manifested in many ways beyond the most obvious. It follows that we should all make an effort to understand those more subtle systems and do what we can to step away from them. My hope was that DiAngelo would help shed light on those systems in more detail and offer some substantiated ideas about how to progress. Instead, the focus of the book is crafting an absurd kafka trap to dismantle all objection to an ideology. Simply, any disagreement with her theory on racism is proof of racism. She doesn't offer meaningful lessons or solutions, in fact, she goes as far as to suggest that focussing on solutions is in fact racist. If you want to know how to win arguments in bad faith and discredit anyone who disagrees, you might get something from this book. If you want to broaden your understanding of racial prejudice and learn about solutions, look elsewhere.

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82 people found this helpful

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Awful narration

Really struggling to follow the very dull robotic narration, don't bother with the audio book, buy a physical copy

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71 people found this helpful

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6.5 hour workshop commercial

Meh.

Summary. Unfalsifiable argument. All whites are racist...walk the tight rope between being a white saviour and an ally...be-less-white.

Emporer's new clothes argument...if you dont agree you must be stupid/racist. Okay...very logical...

Looking forward to Candace Owen's book Blackout for hopefully a different perspective.

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52 people found this helpful

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The narration is excruciating!

I have not listened to this book as the pace and tone of the narration jars so much I am going to have to buy the written version. The paper version was not available which was why I bought this. Don't bother!

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37 people found this helpful

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Don't waste your time or money!!

I found it very disappointing after reading all the positive reviews, poor content and continually repetitive of the same points and references. Finished the book to see if would get any better but sadly not.

There must be better books that cover this issue..

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Awful voice

The voice sounds like an AI voice reading a pdf document... sorry I bought it, should have bought the hard copy...

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Robin DiAngelo= Klu klux Klan member?

I don't know if this book is intended just to provoke a race war or just to make her rich. She's put herself out there as the saviour of all black people even though they haven't asked her to. I imagine that anyone of ANY colour would really want her to shut up speaking for them. She sees the world in race tinted glasses and if you disagree with her she has a series of ready made answers as to why you are a white supremacist racist. If you're white you are guilty of the entire history of slavery - if you're black you're down trodden and always the underdog. She has a real problem that is really outdated. White, black, oriental mixed race we all get on with our tough lives. we don't need this negative old lady with a guilt complex telling us to look at the world from one negative angle and feel like killing one another for what nobody born today has any responsibility for. We are here together whatever happened in the past. You are obviously a very intelligent person, you could have used your intellect to write something more positive and less blinkered!

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The worst kind of pseudo-science

The author starts with a number of preconceptions to under pin her later narrative, these preconceptions have been disproved by numerous studies, therefore all that follows is just her opinion at best and pseudo-science at worse.
The concept of socialization, the cornerstone of her narrative, which she states as fact is still contested and there is a wealth of evidence refuting her position. Her disdained for individuality and support for the group are evidence of her postmodern Marxist world view.
The current call for all white people to read this book so as to address our unconscious bias will for the more enlighten readers serve only as more evidence of the moral corruption of the modern left.
Finally, it should be pointed out that the author benefits financially from teaching about unconscious biases to corporates across America a phenomenon that she alone identified and in this book attempts to justify. In this she embodies all that is good about the capitalism system that her postmodern Marxist world view seeks to destroy.

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24 people found this helpful

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White Fragility - Paradigm Shift

This book is so important! It has given me a better understanding of how and why we are where we are when dealing with and discussing the impact of racism and white supremacy.

As an African man working in corporate settings that are predominantly white, I feel more equipped to discuss race-related topics with friends, colleagues and clients of all races.

The learning has just begun and I have a long and hard road ahead of me but at least books like this can act as a compass to help guide the way and promote continual learning.

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