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Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm QUOTES

Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm QUOTES

1 " Whom exactly does the culture of niceness serve? I suppose it serves the people for whom life is going well, the people in power. But where does this leave less empowered individuals and populations with legitimate complaints? Speaking truth to power too often results in feelings of judgment and anger at the complainer "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

2 " But because they see themselves as progressive in terms of racism, they do not see anti-racism efforts as directed at them; they “already know all this” and are not part of the problem. Thus, they may not involve themselves in anti-racist efforts, but if they do, they can be rather self-righteous as they point out racism in everyone other than themselves. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

3 " The sad irony is that the moment we believe we “get it” is not the moment our journey to racial enlightenment comes to an end. “Getting it” should immediately engender humility in recognition of how much we don’t—and likely never will—completely know. Deepening our understanding, building our skills, and demonstrating anti-racist practice are ongoing. Awareness should add new dimensions to the continuing journey: humility and accountability. Awareness that does not lead to sustained engagement is not meaningful. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

4 " The binary makes complicity with racism and being a good person mutually exclusive. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

5 " Processing those feelings with another white person who can listen with compassion while still holding us accountable for our actions is a much healthier choice. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

6 " Because we tend to see ourselves as individuals, rather than as white individuals, we proceed as if power dynamics are not at play in our cross-racial interactions. We don’t understand that we bring our histories with us into these interactions, and they are histories of harm. We represent not only ourselves but all the other white people who have hurt their friends of color. If we want to be the one in ten Oluo holds hope for, we will need to earn that trust, not expect it. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

7 " As white progressives, the participants expected to be validated in their wokeness, not called in and exposed. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

8 " Defaulting to whatever engagement feels most comfortable is not guided by critical thinking and is not anti-racist. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

9 " Voluntarily or even enthusiastically participating in an anti-racism seminar doesn’t mean that one acts in allyship in daily life. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

10 " Systemic racism consistently works to the benefit of white people overall and to the disadvantage of BIPOC people overall, which is why I reserve language to capture its directional nature "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

11 " If we limit racism’s scope to individual acts, then we are actively ignoring the insidious ways it operates. We also open the door for each of us to take an exemption "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

12 " Equating an oppression that you experience with racism "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

13 " Responding with strong emotions to injustice is, of course, rational. But the passive-aggressive, conflict-avoiding culture of niceness, along with the ever-looming threat of triggering white fragility, puts enormous pressure on activists of color not to show emotions that make white people uncomfortable. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

14 " Awareness should add new dimensions to the continuing journey: humility and accountability. Awareness that does not lead to sustained engagement is not meaningful. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

15 " Indeed, I don’t think there will be structural transformation without personal transformation "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

16 " We might ask ourselves why we think the best response to racial inequality is niceness. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

17 " Policy change must be taken up simultaneously with personal and interpersonal work. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

18 " Making statements about well-documented social patterns and outcomes such as “Our institutions were set up to advantage white people” and “White identity is shaped by the ubiquitous messages of white superiority that circulate in the culture at large” is not the same as stereotyping. Systemic racism is well documented throughout society and across history "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

19 " Who does it serve not to name the beneficiaries of unfair policies? "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

20 " I don’t need to hold consciously racist beliefs or intentions in order to benefit from being white, any more than I need to hold consciously ableist beliefs in order to benefit from a society that considers me “ablebodied” and thus “normal” and is set up to accommodate the way I move, see, and communicate. But it goes deeper than just receiving benefits and being able to take them for granted. I have also internalized the message of my normalcy and that it is better to be white, and better to be “normal” than “disabled. "

― Robin DiAngelo , Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm