White fragility at home

To the Editor:

A letter in the June 12 issue of the Swarthmorean, obliquely referencing the recent racist incident at Strath Haven High School and its aftermath, managed to discuss the topic at length without ever acknowledging the victims — the minorities in our community who continue to be deeply wounded by these events. What does the larger white community owe to them?

Sociologist Robin Diangelo’s “White Fragility” is among the books on race being recommended following the killing of George Floyd. In it, Diangelo writes, “White people in North America live in a society that is deeply separate from race, and white people are the beneficiaries of that racism and inequality. As a result, we are insulated from racial stress...Given how seldom we experience racial discomfort in a society we dominate...we perceive any attempt to connect us to the system of racism as an unsettling and unfair offence.” We “repel the challenge” and return to our “racial comfort.”

Margaret Betz
Swarthmore