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Robin DiAngelo
Angela, a Black woman, is a new web developer at DiAngelo’s company. When DiAngelo dismisses a survey that Angela made and makes an off-hand comment about her Black co-worker Deborah’s hair, Angela tells another member of DiAngelo’s team that she thought the comment was inappropriate. DiAngelo processes her feelings with another white person, apologizes to Angela for her racist comment, and asks Angela for further feedback. Angela says that while these kinds of dynamics occur every day, she is pleasantly surprised by DiAngelo’s openness to feedback, her willingness to repair the relationship, and her commitment to doing better in the future. As a result, they have a stronger relationship, illustrating how resisting white fragility when receiving feedback about racist behavior can help build more authentic cross-racial relationships.
Angela Quotes in White Fragility
The White Fragility quotes below are all either spoken by Angela or refer to Angela. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12 Quotes
First, once I was aware that I had behaved problematically, I took the time to process my reaction with another white person. It was not Angela's duty to take care of my feelings or feel pressure to reassure me. I was also careful to choose someone who I knew would hold me accountable, not someone who would insist that Angela was too sensitive. After I vented my feelings (embarrassment, guilt, shame, and regret), we did our best to identify how I had reinforced racism. I was then ready to return to Angela. […]
'When Angela and I met, I owned my racism. I did not focus on my intentions but focused on the impact of my behavior and apologized for that impact. […]
We then did move forward. Today, we have more trust—not less—in our relationship than we did before this incident.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Angela Character Timeline in White Fragility
The timeline below shows where the character Angela appears in White Fragility. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12
One day, DiAngelo meets with her company’s new web developer, Angela, who is Black. Angela gives DiAngelo a survey to fill out about her intended audience,...
(full context)
A few days later, one of DiAngelo’s team members lets DiAngelo know that Angela was offended by DiAngelo’s comment. DiAngelo quickly realizes her comment was off and seeks out...
(full context)
DiAngelo admits to Angela that her comment was inappropriate, and Angela agrees that she did not want to be...
(full context)
Returning to the example with Angela, DiAngelo followed a series of steps. She processed her reaction with another white person as...
(full context)
