Eight sessions - Thurdays July 9 through August 27, 2020, 7-8:30 pm
(Class is Now Closed - No New Attendees will be Accepted)
Can you feel the excitement and anxiety about social change that is happening all around us?
Perhaps the racial justice protests have left you feeling unsettled and wanting to better understand yourself and others around issues of race. Perhaps you are curious about the term "white fragility?"
Please join Unity friends in a book study of Robin DiAngelo's increasingly popular book White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Led by co-facilitators Joanne Cosmos Finn, Carl Janson, Paula Schiff and Veronica Wolfe, this group aims to create a loving space to witness each other while we process and learn.
As Robin DiAngelo says, "For well intentioned white people doing anti-racist and social justice work, the first meaningful step is to recognize their fragility around racial issues, and build their emotional stamina."
About the Book: The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged that serve to maintain racial inequality In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine).
Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
Pre-Reading Materials:
If possible, please look through some of these articles and videos prior to the first class.
Don't Have the Book Yet?
White Fragility book part of Intro and Ch 1 on “Look Inside" preview on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414/ref=nodl_
White Fragility E-Book Available Through These Black-Owned Businesses
https://www.kizzysbooksandmore.com/ebook/9780807047422
https://thedockbookshop.papertrell.com/purchase.aspx?isbn=9780807047422&shelfid=654c03de-fff1-4162-ac92-bc6949f2e71c
Deconstructing White Privilege - 20 Minute Video
This 20 minute TEDx-style video is a great introduction to understanding key concepts in white racial socialization and why it’s often so hard for white people to talk about racism. https://youtu.be/h7mzj0cVL0Q
Teaching Tolerance, Summer 2019 - Article and Video With Robin DiAngelo
https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2019/whats-my-complicity-talking-white-fragility-with-robin-diangelo
Further Learning With Robin DiAngelo
https://robindiangelo.com/resources/
50% of the class proceeds will go to JusticeForMilesHall.org