“It’s a paralysing emotion… you can’t get anything done.” I’ve reflected on Toni Morrison’s take on anger a lot in recent weeks. Righteous anger has its place - it can be cathartic and healing - but it’s not enough to change the world. There is emerging research on how to help people understand structural discrimination in relation to race and economic disadvantage but a lot more work on this is needed. Her worldview seeks to heap blame on individuals rather than understand that white people, too, are a product of society and structure. DiAngelo’s approach simply risks entrenching structural discrimination further.

Source: The Guardian July 19, 2020 06:56 UTC