Join us for a discussion of Chapters 9-12 of WHITE FRAGILITY by Robin DiAngelo on Sunday, May 17 from 2:00-3:30 p.m.
If you have not received and responded to an invitation via Hobnob, please REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT using the following link: https://forms.gle/kvFc7hoBurQbGpjbA
We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 p.m.!
-We will send Zoom details via email the day of the event.
-If this is your first Zoom meeting, please sign in 10 minutes early.
-This discussion focuses on the book. As a courtesy to other attendees, if you have not completed the reading, please listen and observe.
-Please download the Reading Guide from RobinDiAngelo.com and have pen and paper handy to jot notes for the breakout sessions.
-See specific discussion questions below.
AGENDA
-Welcome & Introduction of Facilitators
-Review of Community Guidelines
-Zoom communication & technology tips
-Breakout Session 1 (Reading Guide Questions for Chapters 9-10)
-Report Back to Main Group
-Breakout Session 2 (Reading Guide Questions for Chapters 11-12)
-Report Back to Main Group
-Next Book Selection and Meeting Date
Questions we will discuss during the meeting, from the Reading Guide by Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo (beacon.org/whitefragility):
Chapter 9
(#1) Why are white people more receptive to other white people (rather than people of color) educating them on race? What does this say about the role white people must play in addressing systemic racism in society broadly and specifically in our homes, with our friends and family members, and in our workplaces with our colleagues?
(#4) Now consider the assumptionsunderlying those claims on p. 121. Which ones have you held? Do you still hold some of these? If so, how do they function for you and what would it mean to you to shift them (what do you see yourself as having to “give up”)?
Chapter 10
(#3) DiAngelo presents these rules in a language of critique in order to reveal how they function. Of course, the “rules” are rarely explicitly expressed in this way. Consider what you hear white people say that communicates “do not give me feedback under any circumstances” etc.? Go through each of the eleven rules and share how you have heard these rules expressed in practice.
(#5) In your own words, what is problematic about common guidelines for building trust in discussions about racism (e.g. “don’t judge”)? How do these guidelines function? Who are they for? Whose comfort do they protect?
Chapter 11
(#1) 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?
(#6) White women often assume a shared sisterhood with women of color. What is problematic about this assumption?
(#8) The author writes, “Since many of us have not learned how racism works and our role in it, our tears may come from shock and distress about what we didn’t know or recognize. For people of color, our tears demonstrate our racial insulation and privilege” (pp. 135-36). Discuss this passage and the ways that white emotional distress and shock (tears, defensiveness, anger grief) shape conversations on racism. What do these dynamics reveal about the sociopolitical function of emotions?
Chapter 12
(#4) If we accept that racism is always operating, the question becomes not “Isracism 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?
(#7) Discuss the suggestions for continuing the work of antiracism. Which are the most challenging? How can you meet those challenges?
Diverse Fort Collins 