August 2020 Member Meetup

Discussion questions from the official White Fragility reading guide. Listed is one question from each chapter, if you want more discussion questions per chapter, refer to the reading guide. Also find the guide and other resources at- https://robindiangelo.com/resources/

1. What are some constructive ways to use your emotional reactions when your opinions on racism are challenged?

2. What does the author mean when she says that there is no such thing as reverse racism?

3. What is color-blind racism and why is it problematic?

4. What does the author mean when she says that white people are not, in fact, racially innocent? How can we know much about race if we have lived separately?

5. What does it mean to say that racism is “a structure, not an event”?

6. The author states that the film The Blind Side is “insidiously anti-black.” Using the framework of the book, explain how a viewer can not notice the anti-black messages yet still be shaped by them.

7. Explain the triggers listed in chapter 7 in your own words and share examples of each in daily life.

8. As a white colleague, how would you explain to Karen (p. 107) what is problematic about her response? If you are a person of color, what strategies could you use to address Karen’s white fragility?

9. Discuss the claims on pp. 119-120. Have you ever made any of these claims yourself?

10. The rules of engagement around white fragility have at least three parts: those giving feedback, those receiving feedback, and those witnessing these exchanges. Practice some language for each by preparing your own “sentence starters” such as the silence breakers above. How might you begin to give feedback? How might you respond to feedback given to you? What might you say as you witness an exchange of feedback?

11. The author opens this chapter with the story of a woman of color in a multiracial group stating that she did not want to be subjected to white women’s tears. Why were white women asked not to cry in the group?

12. If we accept that racism is always operating, the question becomes not “Is racism taking place?” but rather “How is racism taking place in this specific context?” How does awareness of that change how we think about our lives and our actions?