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Symbols
The birdcage represents interlocking forms of oppression and white people’s ignorance of that oppression. Throughout White Fragility, DiAngelo emphasizes that people of color face different forms of economic and social barriers, like segregation, negative stereotypes in the media, and hiring discrimination. These different forms of oppression interlock like the bars of a birdcage, and they serve to reinforce racism and keep people of color on the bottom of the racial hierarchy like a bird in a cage. This is especially true of the Black working class, who remain “on the bottom of every social and economic measure.”
Borrowing the birdcage analogy from scholar Marilyn Frye, DiAngelo demonstrates that if a person is standing too close to the cage, they might not have a full view of the cage and might believe that taken individually, the bars do not actually impede the bird. But stepping back, a person can see that the bird cannot escape the cage. Similarly, she believes that white people do not have a full view of the “cage” of white supremacy and racism, and she argues that they must take a step back and understand the system as a whole in order to see how racism impacts people of color’s lives on a societal level, not just on an individual one.
The Birdcage Quotes in White Fragility
The White Fragility quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Birdcage. 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:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
If you stand close to a birdcage and press your face against the wires, your perception of the bars will disappear and you will have an almost unobstructed view of the bird. If you turn your head to examine one wire of the cage closely, you will not be able to see the other wires. If your understanding of the cage is based on this myopic view, you may not understand why the bird doesn’t just go around the single wire and fly away. You might even assume that the bird liked or chose its place in the cage.
But if you stepped back and took a wider view, you would begin to see that the wires come together in an interlocking pattern-a pattern that works to hold the bird firmly in place.
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In this passage, DiAngelo discusses both how racism is a system of interlocking barriers, and the idea that white people are ignorant of this system. The birdcage, an idea borrowed from scholar Marilyn Frye, is a visual metaphor for those interlocking forms of oppression, as people of color face systemic economic and social barriers like segregation, negative stereotypes in the media, and hiring discrimination. These different forms of oppression interlock like the bars of a birdcage, and in the metaphor, they reinforce racism and keep people of color on the bottom of the racial hierarchy (i.e., trapped in the cage). Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Ape
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The Birdcage Symbol Timeline in White Fragility
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Birdcage appears in White Fragility. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...but racial disparities continue in every institution. Scholar Marilyn Frye uses the metaphor of a birdcage to describe forces of oppression. Standing close to a birdcage makes it difficult to see...
(full context)
