White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. In this short documentary by The New York Times entitled “A Conversation with White People on Race,” one of the interviewees says: “I know that I’m white, I guess I’m part of that collection. But I don’t think about being white, I don’t.” Another says: “I really did not know that I had a racial identity. I knew I was white. I had no idea what that meant, how that shaped my outlook on life, how that shaped my sense of optimism, my sense of belonging, sense of safety.” In the corresponding New York Times article, the authors say that, when they set out to write this piece, they had difficulty finding white people who were willing to speak on the subject of race. What are your first impressions about the way the interviewees discuss the race? What stood out to you, if anything, about their responses? What are the reasons some of the interviewees give to explain their trepidation about discussing the subject? Could it be the case that their Resistance to Thinking and Talking about Race Leads to Complicity in Systemic Racism? Be sure to note moments in the video where interviewees explain that their Discomfort is a Trigger, which prevents them from having conversations about race.