Talking ‘white fragility’ with Robin DiAngelo

Sociologist, academic and author of the bestseller White Fragility, Dr Robin DiAngelo, will be part of a moderated discussion questioning why it is so hard for white people to talk about racism at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Monday, 11 November, at 18:00.

The Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington, who received her PhD in multicultural education from the same university in 2004, will tackle the contentious topic in an event aimed at broadening transformation on the UCT campus. It is co-hosted by the Global Citizenship Programme (GCP) and the Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC).

DiAngelo, whose area of research is in whiteness studies and critical discourse analysis, is also a two-time winner of the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year in the University of Washington’s School of Social Work.

She first coined the phrase “white fragility” in an academic article in 2011, which went on to impact the American national dialogue on race.

All staff and students are invited to attend the event, which takes place in the Lecture Theatre 3, Kramer Building on middle campus on 11 November, starting at 18:00 for 18:30.