Robin DiAngelo has spent years leading diversity workshops and anti-racism training, and she’s come to find one thing to be nearly universal: white people have a lot of difficulty talking about race. A lot.
This is not surprising or shameful, considering that one of the central attributes of whiteness is the belief that white people do not have a race. We are the “norm” against which all others are supposedly judged, and we are taught never to address it. But this is a myth meant to uphold white supremacy, and if white folks are serious about addressing modern racism, we have to start doing our own internal work instead of expecting the people of color around us to do it for us.
This is the work we’ll be about starting Sunday, January 20, at 11:30-1 in the cafe, where we’ll be discussing DiAngelo’s White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. We will discuss approximately one chapter per session, and all are welcome. You don’t need to be caught up to join us, but do remember that each class focuses on a new chapter–so we will not be discussing racism in general, but the topics covered in each chapter. This helps keep the discussions productive, and keeps us honoring each others’ time.
We will meet every Sunday except the first Sunday of each month, when we have Board meetings, through the end of February. We hope you’ll join us!
