YWCA’s It’s Time to Act! with Dr. Robin DiAngelo

The goal of eliminating racism is within our reach. It begins with conversation, and it’s propelled by action. Learn more.

Join YWCA in its mission to break through the barriers that perpetuate racism. The inaugural It’s Time to Act! is a four-act forum series that will empower participants to engage in deeper conversations around race, equity, faith and social justice issues. You will hear from experts who will inspire you to intentionally take action on equity issues in your surrounding community.

Act Two: White Fragility: Unpacking Privilege features educator and author Dr. Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Book sales provided by Milkweed Books.

Honest conversations about race allow us to find common ground and develop trusting relationships that make it possible to move toward a more equitable community together. The experts brought together for It’s Time to Act! have dedicated their work to fueling these conversations. They’ll lead the way for attendees to create a step-by-step action plan as part of a cohort or as an individual.

The New York Times best-selling White Fragility explores the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’” (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

Robin DiAngelo is an academic, lecturer, and author and has been a consultant and trainer on issues of racial and social justice for more than twenty years. She formerly served as a tenured professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University.