It is important to look at the thinkers who are most influential in launching the wake revolution on elite institutions as critical race theory battles heat up across the country.Two figures are more common than any other.One is Ibram.X. Kendi. He is the director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. Kendi also wrote How to Be an Antiracist.Robin DiAngelo is the other, a lecturer who also wrote White Fragility. Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism.DiAngelo is now writing a sequel book, Nice Racism. How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racist Harm.She explained in her introduction that her work aims to reverse the ingrained racism patterns of society. She mentions Derrick Bellwidely acknowledged as a pioneer in critical race theoryand other leftist scholars for her analysis.The title is something I am not entirely in agreement with. Progressive ideas that end with the defunding, abolition and destruction of police and the nucleus family are causing immense harm.However, DiAngelos books don't focus on deep societal analysis or policy. They are more about helping people live in a better and more free society.They are not intended for a wider audience, or conservatives who are deemed to be nothing but a collection of deplorables that cannot be saved.The grand plan opponents are nothing more than an absurd caricature.This book is written at a time when white nationalism-the desire for and by whites to have a white ethnostate is on the rise in America, DiAngelo writes in chapter 1. He offers little explanation or evidence.DiAngelos books, which are poor self-help guides for white, upper-middle class progressives who are desperate to find a way not to be racist in an environment where denial of your racism is considered racism, are false.DiAngelos' role is to figuratively support her audience and shout shame! when they commit racism. She's here to discover the true meaning and stamp out all heresies wherever they are found.Nice Racism is similar to the White Fragility. It is a series of anecdotal stories and well-framed personal stories that show that her audience, despite all her hard work, still commits sacrilege and needs further education to save herself.One of DiAnglos' stories tells the story of a conversation she had in London with a taxicab driver. She says he was frustrated at being called racist. He didn't ask her, author of a New York Times bestseller, about her views on the subject.These blue-collar, know-nothings cannot fail to seek out the wisdom of a New York Times bestseller! They need to be humbler.It might be better to ignore DiAngelos' writings.It's becoming increasingly difficult to do so, as her work is immensely popularized and influential. Her work is heavily cited in the numerous diversity, equity and inclusion seminars and trainings that are held across the country on boardrooms, colleges campuses and government agencies.Matt Taibbi, journalist, wrote that Nice Racism was a rare book that is unreadable and morally detestable but nonetheless important.Although I have already given a general overview of the beliefs of woke anti-racists, it is good to gain more insight into their worldview.Taibbi is one of the many writers who have written compelling and brutal takesdowns of this book. Here are some more insights I got from Nice Racists.Individualism is a bad thingThe anti-racist worldview teaches us that individualism is bad, and that it is a result of white supremacy. This is because it's a similar argument that was used last summer on the website of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.You must see color in order to be a modern woken person.DiAngelo writes that individualism is deeply ingrained in Western culture and plays an important role in maintaining white supremacy.DiAngelo tells a story about Sue and Bob who were not comfortable being identified as part of a group. After a 45-minute lecture, she was shocked that people didn't understand how white supremacy was being promoted by treating individuals as individuals.She wrote that she was left puzzled by the cognitive effects of anti-racism education programs for whites that keep them from hearing what is being said.Do you think it is possible, after listening to so many stories from like-minded progressives, that the thesis may not be correct and that people should be treated as individuals with their own agency and identity? It is not the people who are wrong.DiAngelo believes that racism is promoted when you don't think about and consider your race every day. It is not enough to think that racism can be stopped by preventing individual acts of racism.2. 2.Smile, smile, it's possible to be racist.DiAngelo explains this in an anecdotal tale of a friend who went to Whole Foods (of all places) and got sick of white people smiling.DiAngelo writes that I've heard Black people complain about white people being awkward and not smiling enough.One friend shared her experience of going to Whole Foods feeling exhausted from the pressure to be accepted by all the white, over-solicitous people. She wanted to finish her errands and get home.As you can see from my profile photos, I am a terrible anti-racist.According to DiAngelo, white people are able to smile too much at black people. This is a legacy from slavery.The consultant concluded that white niceness was a form of racism in the plantation relationship.DiAngelo writes that white people did not have to be kind during the enslavement. While black people did this, no pretense of kindness was required on the part white people. This pretense is still necessary today, particularly if you want to be considered a white progressive. However, this does not mean that there isn't anti-blackness simmering below the surface.We wouldn't be here if these experts on racism didn't tell us that racism is plain and simple.3. Check out the Anti-Racism Checklist before you say or do anything.What can you do to stop all the nice, white racism that is happening around you? DiAngelo is referring to a list she got from a professor in education. Here's a little bit of the long, anti-racist list.I am constantly learning about racism and the perspectives of BIPOC (black indigenous peoples of color) people. In all situations, I am aware of my whiteness and this awareness influences how I engage. I participate in anti-racist programs and projects. I bring up racism in public and private settings. In meetings and when planning projects, I ensure that anti-racism gets discussed. As racial issues are brought up in conversation, I try to avoid personalizing them. I am able to identify many aspects and manifestations of racism. To ensure inclusion of BIPOC persons, I am involved in group dynamics. I validate and support the contributions of BIPOC persons.White supremacy is perpetuated if you don't do all of these things every day. You are a racist if you don't spend your day in an ivory tower thinking about how to end white supremacy. You are, in fact, a racist, racist even if you don't spend every day locked away in an ivory tower.This is the key takeaway from nearly all DiAngelos' work. Racism is everywhere you go. You can do something about racism by buying these books, attending these lectures and paying these consultants. Only then will you be able to begin the process of eliminating racism from society.
