White fragility...

The knee-jerk reaction Whites get in momentary racially stressful situations.

Some people might want to deny the existence of White fragility, but if you take time to hear it - you'll begin to recognize it for yourself. If you want to test your fragility to see if you can read some of the systemic moves of Western Christianity to institutionalize racism & supremacy, read this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGM6SVwcvm0

I (Fr. Jabriel) really do think the problem is this binary good vs. evil dichotomy we have for racism. Where Whites don't engage racial issues because of the perspective that if they find racism among them, then they are bad people...

Since they don't want to be condemned, they simply bury their heads in "good deeds" that ignore the gushing wound.

We're worried about whether or not this or that thought makes us good or bad people...

When there really is nuance...

And that nuance is even more challenging.

 

You see, the nuance is where we meet the unintended consequences...the toxic charity. It's where we find the paternalism and cravings for power. It's where the systemic injustice and terror are normalized and given Christian sanction.

The nuance is where we find the collusion...

Where White liberals and progressives are really challenged to admit and struggle against their inherited racism...

Where they realize the costs of their silence...their apathy...the convenience of their choices...

And how those choices really function in society.

 

Robin DiAngelo is a profound intellectual who unpacks some very challenging social theory on the behavior of White people. Any person in antiracism and racial reconciliation work, that is engaging White audiences - or themselves as White persons, should really get to understand White fragility and become familiar with Robin's work.

Any Black person engaged in this work of reconciliation would also benefit from some insight on why White folk react as they do. Not to feed that behavior. But to point out that behavior, when it occurs, so we can hold one another accountable to become Beloved Community.

Her book releases on June 26, 2018. You should preorder your copy! Click here...

In this episode, we discuss how White fragility works to protect racism. We examine how silence functions and Robin challenges you to confront your own silence, as White people...

After you spend some time considering that silence we discuss, hop over to the Facebook group and chime in on the discussion. If you aren't a member of the group yet, click the banner...

And if you want to test your fragility to see if you can read some of the systemic moves of Western Christianity to institutionalize racism & supremacy, read this.

Resources for this Episode:

* White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism - Dr. Robin DiAngelo