Welcome back to the Tranquility du Jour book club!
We’ve been MIA the past many years and now felt like the perfect time to revitalize reading together.
From one bibliophile to another, I’d love to read stories with you that move us and make us think and to open up important conversations to encourage reflection and deeper understanding.
Together we’ll read books and discuss them here on the blog, over in our TDJ Insider’s Facebook group, and hopefully in person someday soon. You in? Hope so!
Our first book is White Fragility: Why it’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo.
Here’s a description from Amazon:
The New York Times best-selling book exploring 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.
Why I chose it
Probably much like you, I’ve been deeply affected by George Floyd’s murder and moved by the protests around the globe. And, there’s so much to learn. I’m eager and ready. After last week’s podcast interview with Jamia, my post on listening, and my time at the DC protests, I wanted to start with a book that seemed like a solid antiracism foundation.
How to join
Read the book (here’s a list of black-owned bookstores or download via an e-reader) and join us next weekend over on the TDJ Insider’s Facebook group for a discussion. Here’s the reading guide.
