I believe that her analysis is clear, concise and applicable to all forms of the status quo. So, I will be addressing that today.
White Fragility
In DiAngelo's text, she outlines the triggers of white fragility. I believe these triggers are very important to understand in action. As a white man, I can attest to each and everyone of these events, both as the person "triggered" and among my fellow white person. One important thing to remember is allies in the racial justice movements are far from exempt from this fragility. If you believe you are exempt, you need to re-examine your position as an ally.
Challenge to Objectivity--White fragility loves to rear its ugly head when someone mentions to you that your viewpoint is stemming from a racialized stance. Largely, this has a lot to do with how white children are taught by race. In my generation, I was taught to be colorblind. Common deflections with this trigger are "I don't see race...", "I don't care if your black, white, green or purple...", "I am friends with black people...."
Chescaleigh has done a great job explaining why colorblind thinking is not a good system in our present day.
I will be the first to admit it. I have done exactly what this trigger states. I have been that guy that "doesn't see race". What this mindset does, as Chescaleigh points out, is allows the system to persist and it allows white people to remain unaccountable for their role in keeping the structural institution of racism booming.
Challenge to White Racial Codes--When people of color discuss their direct perspectives of their worlds and how the racial constructs affect them, this is often triggering to fragility because it challenges what white people believe about race.
Challenge to Entitlement to Racial Comfort--White people have a defaulted privilege in the United States. We don't have to think about race. We are comfortable in our being and often don't have to answer for the actions of other white people.
When a person of color discusses their plight and they do so in a way that does not mask or comfort the white feelings of an individual, this often triggers a defensive response.
A mock training video about workplace white fragility does a great job explaining this comfort.
Challenge to Colonialist Relations--This trigger is probably the most difficult to understand at first. But the fact is, the way history is taught, it is done in a nice, sugarcoating and whitewashed manner that shows how beneficial colonizing has been for the new world. Of course, they might mention a thing or two about the horrible massacres and the enslavement, rape and pillaging of the First Nations and African people, but not before they tell you about the wonderful leadership of George Washington.
The way history is taught also gives those of us who are white a sense of entitlement. When we finally are up to the notion of discussing race, we verbally invade the spaces of people of color and have a full expectation that the person of color will take the time and emotional energy.
Simply put, we have the expectation of forced servitude in the sense of intellectual and emotional labor when it comes to people of color. Sure, some people of color may want to engage in these discussions and that's fine, but when a white person is not invited into this discussions, they feel threatened and very defensive.
Common calls related to this sense of fragility are "I want to learn." "Teach me." "Educate me."
They may be sugarcoated in "nice" ways to make it sound like a genuine attempt at learning but in reality they are re-enforcing the racial structure.
Here is a great blog post about this very phenomenon.
One way you can actually get some intellectual and emotional labor and pay for these dues is by subscribing to Safety Pin Box by Leslie Mac and Marissa Janae. This is just one of many tools and resources available for you to get involved in the anti-racism fight without re-enforcing colonialist relations again and again.
You can also check out this resource on organizations fighting against racial injustice.
Challenge to White Solidarity-- I face this one the most frequently. When a white person says or does something that re-enforces racism, I naturally will respond. And usually it is met with hostility or defensiveness.
Here's just one example of a time I challenged someone's anti-Muslim viewpoints. Granted, I know Muslim is not the race but the idea is still applicable.
Challenge to White Liberalism--This one is the most important. Far too often, Democrats, Socialists, leftists and other progressives believe they are exempt from the structural systems of oppression that they participate in.
Marissa Johnson challenged Bernie Sanders during his Presidential campaign. Today, she still faces heat from "Bernie Bros" for it. Her stance challenged me to challenge myself.
I was an ardent Bernie supporter and I don't regret it. I'm not sorry. But what I came to realize was many of my Bernie supporter brethren despised being challenged for their own discomforts and contributions to racism.
Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza said it best in her response, when she said something to the effect of "We must continuously challenge our friends and our foes."
This is highly dangerous---and we see plenty of it in leftist circles. The Green Party is of no exception to this rule despite their claims that they are.
Challenge to Individualism--As a default, white people view other white people as an individual. There is not often a collective accountability for the actions of white people in society. When this happens, you get the not all white people camp.
Yes, I have been in that camp. I have! It's a bad camp. It's the let me prove I am not racist camp and the I don't want to be accountable for white oppressive behaviors camp.
Every year, you hear people complaining about Black History Month, Black Pride events and BET. "If we had a White Entertainment Television, it would be racist!"
White people expect everyone to just be an individual and ignore their identity. The fact is white people, particularly men, are the race that is most responsible for mass shootings. Yet, our media will have you believe that people of color are the most dangerous. Once you bring this issue up, you have the "Not all" camp armed and ready to defend the good name of whiteness. Yet, many of these same people will collectively hold Muslims, black people or Latinos accountable for acts of violence committed by people of color. The individualism challenge is only applicable if the individualism of white people is challenged.
Challenge to Meritocracy--You hear this one the most. "I came from nothing, I grew up poor, I made it!"
The fact is, everyone knows that individual merit and decisions will have an impact on the outcome of your life to some degree. However, when it comes to racism, people of color have to try two to three times as hard to achieve the same results. Merit alone would be a great system and it goes back to being "colorblind" but it just isn't the truth.
The income gap between races is just one example of how meritocracy just simply cannot work in an inequitable society.
This video really got people in their white fragility stance. Just take a brief moment to read the comments and you will see white fragility in action.
Challenge to White Authority--Until President Barack Obama took office, all of our Presidents had been white men.
Most of our company CEO's are white.
Most of our police are white.
Most of our representatives are white.
With these in mind, it is only natural that white authority being challenged results in a sense of racial distress. After all, everyone we know of in charge is white. People feel intimidated when people of color have authority over them. This, also, could be closely related to colonialist relations challenging.
Challenge to White Centrality--Have you ever been told you are centering yourself? All of us who are white have done it. We've been called out for it. And we should be.
The media depicts whiteness as the norm. We can always find white people in roles of the good guy and the bad guy, the poor, the ugly, the rich, the beautiful, the doctors, the lawyers, the homeless men, the politician, you name it. It is difficult, however, to find people of color in major roles and especially in roles that are not stereotypical to that racial group.
Do you remember the white fragility that came about when The Wiz Live featured an all black cast?
Or the fragility that came about when Beyonce performed Formation?
Those are living examples of challenges to white centrality. Saturday Night Live did a hilarious parody of this challenge. In essence, Beyonce was everyone's favorite singer until they found out that not only is she black but she is a proud black woman who was fine with centering her blackness. This challenge caused too many tears of white people begging for representation.
What is funny though is nobody challenged a show like Friends for having an all-white cast and almost no black guest stars. Seinfeld. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These are not shows from the 1950''s. These are shows that are much more recent. Yet, because whiteness is the default, nobody really bats an eye or notices the lack of diversity.
Here is one list of nine television shows with an all-white cast.
As we proceed into what will be challenging years for racial justice, we must be willing and ready to confront our own white fragility. The first step to confronting it is to acknowledge it. Read the report by DiAngelo that I shared. It's important. If it makes you uncomfortable, then good. You need to be uncomfortable.
I am not immune to acts of white fragility. I am much better about now that I am older, wiser and more aware. But I am not immune,
At a later date, I will discuss the fragility of other members of the status quo in the United States. I will be talking about masculine fragility, Christian fragility and then ultimately American fragility.
I believe DiAngelo's triggers are applicable to all of these fragility forms.
Can you think about a time you were confronted about your white fragility? Want to discuss? Feel free!
Much love ,
ArchAngel O:)
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