‘White Fragility’ author to visit Northwest

The author of New York Times Bestseller “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” will visit Northwest Missouri State University this month to discuss the book and offer strategies to address white fragility.

The lecture featuring Dr. Robin DiAngelo, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 pm, Wednesday, August 24, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. It will include a question-and-answer session moderated by Dr. Justin Mallett, the assistant vice president of diversity and inclusion at Northwest. Attendees also will have an opportunity to submit questions prior to the presentation.

“Dr. DiAngelo is a person who many in our community have come to know through reading ‘White Fragility,’” Mallett said, noting the book was featured as part of Northwest’s Bearcat Diversity Book Club. “Dr. DiAngelo coming to our campus to provide tips and strategies on addressing fragility within ourselves and how to be transformative allies, not only on campus but within the local community, is something that is beneficial to the entire Maryville community and northwest Missouri region.”

DiAngelo is an affiliate associate professor of education at the University of Washington, where she researches whiteness studies and critical discourse analysis, tracing how whiteness is reproduced in everyday narratives. She also is a two-time winner of the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work.