Robin DiAngelo

Robin Jeanne DiAngelo (born September 8, 1956)[1] is an American author, consultant, and facilitator working in the fields of critical discourse analysis and whiteness studies.[2][3] She formerly served as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University and is currently an Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington. She is known for her work pertaining to "white fragility", an expression she coined in 2011 and explored further in a 2018 book titled White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.

Robin DiAngelo
Born (1956-09-08) September 8, 1956
NationalityAmerican
OccupationAuthor, consultant
Spouse(s)Jason Toews
Academic background
Education
ThesisWhiteness in racial dialogue: a discourse analysis (2004)
Doctoral advisorJames A. Banks
Academic work
DisciplineEducation
Sub-disciplineWhiteness studies, Critical discourse analysis
InstitutionsWestfield State University
Notable worksWhite Fragility
Notable ideasWhite fragility
Websitehttps://robindiangelo.com

Early life

DiAngelo was born Robin Jeanne Taylor into a white working-class family in San Jose, California, the youngest of three daughters born to Robert Z. Taylor and Maryanne Jeanne DiAngelo.[3][4] Her parents divorced when she was two and the family fell into poverty. When DiAngelo was ten years old her mother died of cancer, after which time she and her sisters went to live with their father.[5]

She has written that her "experience of poverty would have been different had [she] not been white”, reflecting that although she feels that she faced "class oppression", she also benefited from "racial privilege".[6]

Education and career

DiAngelo earned a B.A. in Sociology and History from Seattle University in 1991 where she graduated summa cum laude and the class valedictorian.[7]

DiAngelo received her Ph.D. in multicultural education from the University of Washington in 2004, with a dissertation entitled "Whiteness in racial dialogue: a discourse analysis".[8] Her Ph.D. committee was chaired by James A. Banks.[3] In 2007, she joined the faculty of Westfield State University,[9] where she was named an associate professor of multicultural education in 2014.[10] She resigned from her position at Westfield in 2015.[11] She now holds the position of Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington.[12] She holds two Honorary Doctoral degrees from Starr King Seminary (2019) and Lewis & Clark College (2017).[13][14]

DiAngelo has worked for 20 years in providing diversity training for businesses.[15][16][17] She argues that racism is embedded throughout America's political systems and culture.[2] In a 2019 article for The New Yorker, the columnist Kelefa Sanneh characterized DiAngelo as "perhaps the country's most visible expert in anti-bias training, a practice that is also an industry, and from all appearances a prospering one".[18]

Work

DiAngelo has published a number of academic articles on race, privilege, and education[19] and written several books. Her first book, co-written with Ozlem Sensoy, Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Critical Social Justice Education won both the American Educational Research Association's Critics' Choice Book Award (2012) and the Society of Professors of Education Book Award (2018).[20][21]

DiAngelo is known for her work regarding "white fragility", a term she coined in a 2011 peer-reviewed paper.[22][23] She has defined the concept of white fragility as "a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves." In the paper, she argues that, “White people in the U.S. and other white settler colonialist societies live in a racially insular social environment. This insulation builds our expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering our stamina for enduring racial stress. I term this lack of racial stamina White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimal challenge to the white position becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves including: argumentation, invalidation, silence, withdrawal and claims of being attacked and misunderstood. These moves function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and maintain control.” As of 2016, she regularly gives workshops on the topic.[24][25]

In June 2018, DiAngelo published the book White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.[26] The book became a New York Times bestseller, not leaving the list for over a year.[27] In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, it reached number 1 on the New York Times list.[28] The July 26, 2020 edition of the list marked the book's 97th week in the Paperback Nonfiction category, where it was ranked number 1.[29] The book received mixed critical reception, with positive reviews in sources including New Statesman and the Los Angeles Review of Books,[30][31] and negative reviews in sources including The Atlantic and The Washington Post.[32][33]

Bibliography
  • DiAngelo, R. (2012). What Does it Mean to be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy. Counterpoints (New York, N.Y.). Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-4331-1116-7.
  • Sensoy, O.; DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education, Second Edition. Multicultural Education Series. Teachers College Press. ISBN 978-0-8077-5861-8.
  • DiAngelo, R. (2018). White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-4741-5.

References
  1. "Robin J. DiAngelo". Library of Congress.
  2. Demby, Gene (November 23, 2016). "Is It Racist To Call Someone 'Racist'?". NPR.
  3. "About Me". Robindiangelo.com.
  4. DiAngelo, Robin. "Whiteness in racial dialogue: a discourse analysis". Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  5. "'White Fragility' Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work?". New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  6. "Robin DiAngelo". 2018 ACPA Convention. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  7. "Curriculum vitae: Robin DiAngelo, Ph.D." (PDF).
  8. DiAngelo, Robin (2004). Whiteness in racial dialogue: a discourse analysis (Ph.D. thesis). University of Washington.
  9. "Education Faculty & Staff". Westfield State University. Archived from the original on November 24, 2014.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. "Education Faculty & Staff | Westfield State University". Westfield State University. December 24, 2014. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  11. DiAngelo, Robin. "Dr. Robin DiAngelo - Feature Speaker". Community Inclusivity Equity Council of York Region. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  12. Devore, Molly (April 2, 2019). "Author of 'White Fragility' discusses dangerous impacts of internalized white superiority". The Badger Herald.
  13. "Highlights: 2019 UUA General Assembly". Starr King School for the Ministry. July 2, 2019.
  14. "Board of Trustees approves 2017-18 budget". Lewis & Clark College. March 9, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  15. Waldman, Katy (July 23, 2018). "A Sociologist Examines the "White Fragility" That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  16. Chotiner, Isaac (August 2, 2018). "Why White Liberals Are So Unwilling to Recognize Their Own Racism". Slate. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  17. Doyle, Sady (July 27, 2018). "Why Are White Women So Terrified Of Being Called Racist?". Elle. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  18. Sanneh, Kelefa (August 12, 2019). "The Fight to Redefine Racism". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  19. "Robin DiAngelo, PhD [scholar profile]". Google Scholar. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  20. "Critics' Choice Book Awards". American Educational Research Association.
  21. "Society of Professors of Education Book Award". August 15, 2013.
  22. DiAngelo, Robin (2011). "White Fragility". The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy. University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 3 (3).
  23. Bouie, Jamelle (March 13, 2016). "How Trump Happened". Slate.
  24. Springer, Dan (August 17, 2016). "Seattle offers classes on 'white fragility,' to explain roots of guilt". FoxNews.com.
  25. Hanchard, Jenna (July 28, 2016). "Local workshop explores 'white fragility'". King5.
  26. Waldman, Katy (July 23, 2018). "A Sociologist Examines the "White Fragility" That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism". New Yorker.
  27. Jackson, Lauren Michele (September 5, 2019). "What's Missing From "White Fragility"". Slate Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  28. Lozada, Carlos (June 18, 2020). "Review | White fragility is real. But 'White Fragility' is flawed". Washington Post. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  29. "Paperback Nonfiction". The New York Times Best Seller list. July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  30. "How not to be a racist". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  31. Roediger, David. "On the Defensive: Navigating White Advantage and White Fragility". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  32. McWhorter, John (July 15, 2020). "The Dehumanizing Condescension of 'White Fragility'". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  33. Lozada, Carlos. "White fragility is real. But 'White Fragility' is flawed". Retrieved July 15, 2020.
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