In the early days of my work as what was then termed a diversity trainer, I was taken aback by how angry and defensive so many white people became at the suggestion that they were connected to racism in any way. The very idea that they would be required to attend a workshop on racism outraged them. They entered the room angry and made that feeling clear to us throughout the day as they slammed their notebooks down on the table, refused to participate in exercises, and argued against any and all points. I couldn’t understand their resentment or disinterest in learning more about such a complex social dynamic as racism...
What a mystery, indeed. I don’t have more context, but guessing by the described behavior, those people probably were not participating voluntarily. Is it possible that they were angry about being forced by their employers to attend a political training? How would DiAngelo feel about having to attend a political training organized by her outgroup?
I am a white American raised in the United States. I have a white frame of reference and a white worldview, and I move through the world with a white experience. My experience is not a universal human experience. [...]
For many white people, the mere title of this book will cause resistance because I am breaking a cardinal rule of individualism—I am generalizing. I am proceeding as if I could know anything about someone just because the person is white. Right now you may be thinking of all the ways that you are different from other white people and that if I just knew how you had come to this country, or were close to these people, grew up in this neighborhood, endured this struggle, or had this experience, then I would know that you were different—that you were not racist. [...] As a sociologist, I am quite comfortable generalizing; social life is patterned and predictable in measurable ways. But I understand that my generalizations may cause some defensiveness for the white people about whom I am generalizing, given how cherished the ideology of individualism is in our culture. [...] Setting aside your sense of uniqueness is a critical skill that will allow you to see the big picture of the society in which we live; individualism will not.
So, it is okay to generalize about all white people, but not okay to generalize about all people. Your experience is not a universal human experience. But it apparently does not differ meaningfully from a universal white experience.
To use an example from school, consider the writers we are all expected to read; the list usually includes Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, and William Shakespeare.
You notice whiteness. I notice that with the exception of Dostoyevski they are all English or American.
OK, finished the book. Having already heard its main idea, most of it was predictable, and it was actually not as bad as I feared. Chapter “white women’s tears” was borderline politically incorrect.
Started reading the book...
What a mystery, indeed. I don’t have more context, but guessing by the described behavior, those people probably were not participating voluntarily. Is it possible that they were angry about being forced by their employers to attend a political training? How would DiAngelo feel about having to attend a political training organized by her outgroup?
So, it is okay to generalize about all white people, but not okay to generalize about all people. Your experience is not a universal human experience. But it apparently does not differ meaningfully from a universal white experience.
You notice whiteness. I notice that with the exception of Dostoyevski they are all English or American.
OK, finished the book. Having already heard its main idea, most of it was predictable, and it was actually not as bad as I feared. Chapter “white women’s tears” was borderline politically incorrect.