There are some interesting analyses of racism in this book, especially the component about essentialism is interesting in the chapter about the good/bad dynamic, I recommend reading that.
There are however also some problems with the book It is quite fatalistic and few actual solutions to racism or racist behaviour are mentioned in the book. Systemic problems and solutions are glossed over, being only briefly mentioned in the second chapter. The recommendation to be hyper-aware of race and (potential) racism could also lead to very awkward interactions between white and black people, with white people becoming overly sensitive and a little paternalistic to black people. The book also warns this could happen, but somewhat recommends the behaviour in other places.
The author appears to have written this book partly as a promotion for the diversity workshops she gives at corporations. An anecdote about these workshops is fundamental to one of her proofs for the existence of White Fragility, but there are problems with it. During workshops she gives she either convinces white people of white fragility or doesn't. When she does, apparently she has sufficiently proven white fragility to them. However, when she doesn't she claims that's also proof of White Fragility, as the white people that don't accept it were apparently to 'fragile' to accept the proofs about their own racist and racial beliefs. This is problematic as she has created an unfalsifiable test for her theory. As show more unfalsifiable tests are not a good way to conduct science, this experiment has to be dismissed.
This book is perhaps a good start for reading up on racism, but reading works about racism and experiences of racism by actual black people would probably be more productive. show less
There are however also some problems with the book It is quite fatalistic and few actual solutions to racism or racist behaviour are mentioned in the book. Systemic problems and solutions are glossed over, being only briefly mentioned in the second chapter. The recommendation to be hyper-aware of race and (potential) racism could also lead to very awkward interactions between white and black people, with white people becoming overly sensitive and a little paternalistic to black people. The book also warns this could happen, but somewhat recommends the behaviour in other places.
The author appears to have written this book partly as a promotion for the diversity workshops she gives at corporations. An anecdote about these workshops is fundamental to one of her proofs for the existence of White Fragility, but there are problems with it. During workshops she gives she either convinces white people of white fragility or doesn't. When she does, apparently she has sufficiently proven white fragility to them. However, when she doesn't she claims that's also proof of White Fragility, as the white people that don't accept it were apparently to 'fragile' to accept the proofs about their own racist and racial beliefs. This is problematic as she has created an unfalsifiable test for her theory. As show more unfalsifiable tests are not a good way to conduct science, this experiment has to be dismissed.
This book is perhaps a good start for reading up on racism, but reading works about racism and experiences of racism by actual black people would probably be more productive. show less
This book was probably extremely useful in 1971, but has since lost some of its use. Wikipedia provides the same information and often more on these characters from Ancient History than this book does and may even have more updated information. Nevertheless this book is far more trustworthy than Wikipedia and in that sense could be very useful.
Very insightful book that deals with a woman moving on after her divorce