White Fragility: Book Discussion Series

1.  Racism:  a system into which we are all socialized.

• Everyone is impacted; no one gets a pass.

2.  The Good / Bad binary: the simplistic and limiting idea of racism being bad things done by bad people to harm others of a different race. Only bad people do racist things; I am not a "bad" person and therefore I cannot be racist or believe, say, or do racist things.

• This idea is limiting because many good people perpetuate / practice racism daily. See item 1 above.

3.  Racial humility: to accept item 1 above and refuse to give oneself a pass - i.e., to consciously resist thinking or claiming you are exempt because of some unique aspect of your own upbringing or identity.

• You are not exempt. 

4.  white supremacy: "a sociopolitical economic system of domination based on racial categories that benefits those defined and perceived as white" (WF, p. 30)

• Example: Roughly 90% of college & university presidents at non-minority serving institutions were white men, and roughly 65% of presidents at minority serving institutions were white, 
• according to a comprehensive 2016 study by the American Council on Education
• . Source

• Example: 
• 87%
• of top administrative staff 
• at ARL research libraries 
• were white, while mid-management staff were 81% white, and 
• 71% of all library staff were white, according to a 2017 Ithaka Survey
• .
•  Source

• Example: About 80% of teachers were white (and about 77% were female), 
• according to 2017 US Dept. of Education data.
•   Source

• Example: While white men comprise roughly 38% of the US population, they comprise 71% of the current US Senate and 60% of the US House of Representatives. Source