Best-selling anti-racist “White Fragility” author 66-year-old Robin DiAngelo told a Webinar March 1 titled “Racial Justice: The Next Frontier” that Black people should stay away from Whites. “People of color need to get away from White people and have some community with each other,” DiAngelo has been in the forefront to teach “woke” behavior to closet racists in her 2018 book “White Fragility,” setting out an anti-racist agenda and moral ethic for White people. In the March 1 Webinar,DiAngelo said Whites are uncomfortable with anti-racist initiatives, saying that more radical change was needed in the workplace. DiAngelo, and other anti-racist trainers like 40-year-old Boston University professor Ibram X. Kendi, whose book “How to become an antiracist,” became an instant bestseller, spawning a multimillion dollar consulting business to business, industry and education.
Diversity training has been the rage over the last four years prompting a backlash in the conservative community, opposing “wokeism” or pushing Critical Race Theory [CRT\ in public or private schools. DiAngelo and Kendi advocate Paula D. Rosenberg’s 2011 book, “White Privilege,” essentially teaching that White people have an unfair advantage over Blacks, needing to recognize that the playing field in the United States or elsewhere is not level. DiAngelo told a March 1 Webinar that Black people should create their own communities and avoid White folks, essentially repeating a segregationist approach to society, leaving Black and Whites in different worlds. DiAngelo doesn’t like politicians like GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, who’s worked to stop teaching Critical Race Theory in public schools, something that angered the Black community.
DiAngelo doesn’t like the blowback from her book “White Fragility” that argues that White People must face their whiteness to begin the process of becoming antiracists, going through the kind of diversity or sensitivity training advocated in her book. DiAngelo, like Kendi, wants more antiracist training in the workplace or educational settings to train White People about the subtle, hidden racism lurking beneath the surface, but manifesting itself in prejudice or bigotry. DiAngelo, like Kendi, think that antiracist training, a major part of their consulting businesses, should be taught to everyone in the workplace and education. DeSantis has taken a strong stand against Critical Race Theory that teaches that White Privilege is something built into the education and work environments, requiring explicit training to combat the pernicious way in which racism affects opportunity in society.
Telling people that people of color need to “get away” from White People harks back to an earlier time when segregation ruled American society. Landmark Supreme Court rulings like 1954 Brown v. Board of Education attempted to reverse the longstanding “Separate but Equal” standards in 1886 ruling like Plessy v. Ferguson. DiAngelo statement urging Blacks to “stay away” from White People stems from the resistance she’s received from the conservative community, opposing antiracist training in schools, business and industry. “What I want to do is create a culture that actually spits out those who are resistant,” DiAngelo told the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [DEI] Webinar led by Mary-Frances Winters and Mareisha N. Reeese, discussing the future of DEI in society. DiAngelo has become more militant dealing with the blowback against her White Fragility training.
Objections to Critical Race Theory stem from basic principles of a colorblind racial society where only merit, not racial or ethnic backgrouond, determines employment and lifestyle in the U.S. Anti-CRT expert Chris Rufo tweeted that “Robin D’Angelo sounding like an old-line segregationist,” telling Black people to stay away from Whites. DiAngelo states that she wants society to reject any White person that resists getting antiracist training. In her new book, “The Facilitators Guide for White Affinity Groups: Strategies for Leading White People in an Anti-Racist Practice,
DiAngelo says that White should also stay within their circles. DiAngelo doesn’t get the meaning and purpose of civil rights legislation that prevents White People from discriminating against people of color. DiAngelo should take it personally that White People resent the racist label.
DiAngelo sounds like Cartoonist, Dilbert creator Scott Adams who in a YouTube video Feb. 22 called Black people a hate group, urging whites to “get away” from Black people. Adams lost most of his endorsements and syndicated subscriptions in U.S. daily newspapers for his politically incorrect statements. “When Robin DiAngelo says it, it’s inspirational and she gets paid $20K. When Scott Adams says it, it’s racist and loses his job,” said conservative podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey. There’s a big difference from calling blacks a racist group and urging Blacks to stay away from Whites. DiAngelo is all about promoting her antiracist, White Fragility training, rejecting conservatives like DeSantis that seeks to ban CRT from Florida schools. When Black Lives Matter ruled the day after George Floyd’s death, DiAngelo and Kendi self-promoted their antiracist training to fix American society.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
