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smortimer's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting and heavy content, enjoyed the stories and perspectives shared, highly recommended.
ortizv3133's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
1.0
there were some good points in this book but, after reading other reviews, i’ve become enlightened to matters that i did not notice before. the author does in fact infantilize POC. there also is a very big presence of virtue signaling. i’m going to read more books about race from people of color. reading about it from a white author feels patronizing. i really want to read Caste by isabel wilkerson.
halkid2's review against another edition
5.0
Although I cannot describe this as a "fun" book to read, there is not a single point that author Robin DiAngelo makes that I did not agree with. She is insightful, thoughtful, and wise in her observations and advice. And impressively self-aware as a white woman working in this field.
This book builds on the foundation of DiAngelo's earlier and equally-valuable book, WHITE FRAGILITY. In this one, she looks in greater detail at all the ways in which progressive, well-intentioned white people work AGAINST dismantling racism, even when they aspire to do anti-racism work.
So, what kinds of actions or reactions do we white people employ in anti-racism discussions? Here are JUST A FEW:
• Criticizing generalizations made about WHITE people, even though white people have made generalizations about people of color for centuries.
• Believing that being "nice" to people of color is the same as being anti-racist.
• Shifting conversations about race-related oppression to talking about our own experience with other forms of discrimination like gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
• Claiming we cannot possibly be racist because we have a friend of color, or people of color in our family, or are actively involved in efforts to end racism.
• Assuming that people of color have the same experiences we have.
• Instructing people of color on how best to fight racism.
• Insisting our own success results from our individual abilities and hard work, with no connection to our white privilege.
I'm sure, like me, you recognize at least some of these reactions and DiAngelo offers many more in this book.
Since I believe racism is THE central, unifying thread running through United States history and the most difficult and complex issue we face as a nation, I felt compelled to read this book. But while ending racial discrimination is an essential and worthwhile goal, this book makes it clear, once again, just how pernicious our white supremacist culture is. Our only hope for transforming is, over time, for more people to read and reflect on this book and others like it.
This book builds on the foundation of DiAngelo's earlier and equally-valuable book, WHITE FRAGILITY. In this one, she looks in greater detail at all the ways in which progressive, well-intentioned white people work AGAINST dismantling racism, even when they aspire to do anti-racism work.
So, what kinds of actions or reactions do we white people employ in anti-racism discussions? Here are JUST A FEW:
• Criticizing generalizations made about WHITE people, even though white people have made generalizations about people of color for centuries.
• Believing that being "nice" to people of color is the same as being anti-racist.
• Shifting conversations about race-related oppression to talking about our own experience with other forms of discrimination like gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
• Claiming we cannot possibly be racist because we have a friend of color, or people of color in our family, or are actively involved in efforts to end racism.
• Assuming that people of color have the same experiences we have.
• Instructing people of color on how best to fight racism.
• Insisting our own success results from our individual abilities and hard work, with no connection to our white privilege.
I'm sure, like me, you recognize at least some of these reactions and DiAngelo offers many more in this book.
Since I believe racism is THE central, unifying thread running through United States history and the most difficult and complex issue we face as a nation, I felt compelled to read this book. But while ending racial discrimination is an essential and worthwhile goal, this book makes it clear, once again, just how pernicious our white supremacist culture is. Our only hope for transforming is, over time, for more people to read and reflect on this book and others like it.
macleod73's review against another edition
5.0
A wake-up call to those of use who care about how our best intentioned actions actually land with BIPOC peoples. A call to arms to do the hard work to identify racist inclinations within ourselves before we can show allyship to others.
sarahinreaderland's review against another edition
4.0
Having read the predecessor to this book not long ago, I was very much looking forward to seeing what this book had to offer. Thank you to Robin DiAngelo and @AllenLaneBooks for this advanced audio copy of Nice Racism. Nice Racism is due to be published on 29th June 2021 and you can get a copy here.
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leaton01's review against another edition
4.0
There are a lot of ways one can tackle this book and I'm sure there are myriads out--I've even read a few. Some clearly come from a disposition that they would immediately dismiss anything that DiAngelo says from the start. They often do so because they are blatantly racist (white supremacists like those who participated in the march in Charlottesville, Virginia), they buy into the idea that those seeking racial and social justice are "the problem" (folks who drink up unquestioningly their information from Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Fox News, The Blaze and the like), or those who are deeply involved in owning the game of internecine battles around racial progress and equity (Bill Maher, John McWorter, and Matt Taibbi to name a few). It's strange to see so much ire for this book because the intended audience is largely not for most of those folks but people who claim to be racial progressive and want to understand more about how complicated that can actually be because of things like history, culture, institutions, and personal understandings (or misunderstandings) about how we come to our believes and the differences between impact and intent. So DiAngelo has a lot of pitfalls to navigate in trying to be an accessible voice to engage white people on what racist acts look like.
On the whole, she does a good job. She draws out some of the challenges and assumptions that embed white identity, interweaves direct and indirect experiences, including references the validate her evidence, and actively uplifts BIPOC voices to avoid centering herself too much. She also spends time demonstrating how she, herself, also navigates her internalized racism and some of the mistakes she has made. One of the strengths of her work is how she provides scenario after scenario presenting that chasm between intent and impact. But further, she often finds a way of reframing arguments white folks might bring up by shifting the focus from them trying to justify themselves into understanding how the justifications still don't help to address the racialized power of the situation. Additionally, I appreciate that she also digs in further to what it means to actually attempt to cultivate a life that includes voices different and even disruptive to white progressive enclaves. She challenges her readers to really think about what it would mean to create space and opportunity that aren't just tokenistic gestures.
And yet, I can still see that there can be an element to her work that feels too much like "look, this is how you do it" or "See, I'm doing this well." She calls these out and also speaks to the challenge that as someone with decades of experience and research in this area, it's a delicate balance--but it still feels that way. It makes me think if there would have been other ways to include others in the book besides name-dropping--such as a co-authored book that included the ways that she and someone else navigated their differences. But in the final analysis, it's a good book directed at a specific audience aiming to help lift the conversation from introspection to more accountable actions.
On the whole, she does a good job. She draws out some of the challenges and assumptions that embed white identity, interweaves direct and indirect experiences, including references the validate her evidence, and actively uplifts BIPOC voices to avoid centering herself too much. She also spends time demonstrating how she, herself, also navigates her internalized racism and some of the mistakes she has made. One of the strengths of her work is how she provides scenario after scenario presenting that chasm between intent and impact. But further, she often finds a way of reframing arguments white folks might bring up by shifting the focus from them trying to justify themselves into understanding how the justifications still don't help to address the racialized power of the situation. Additionally, I appreciate that she also digs in further to what it means to actually attempt to cultivate a life that includes voices different and even disruptive to white progressive enclaves. She challenges her readers to really think about what it would mean to create space and opportunity that aren't just tokenistic gestures.
And yet, I can still see that there can be an element to her work that feels too much like "look, this is how you do it" or "See, I'm doing this well." She calls these out and also speaks to the challenge that as someone with decades of experience and research in this area, it's a delicate balance--but it still feels that way. It makes me think if there would have been other ways to include others in the book besides name-dropping--such as a co-authored book that included the ways that she and someone else navigated their differences. But in the final analysis, it's a good book directed at a specific audience aiming to help lift the conversation from introspection to more accountable actions.