Robin DiAngelo

Robin DiAngelo

Robin DiAngelo was born on September 8th, 1956 and is currently 68 years old. Robin DiAngelo was born in San Francisco, California, United States. DiAngelo attended Seattle University where she received a B.A. with a double major in Sociology and History and University of Washington where she received a Ph.D. in Multicultural Education.

Robin DiAngelo is an American author, scholar, and consultant best known for her work in whiteness research and critical discourse analysis.

DiAngelo was brought up in a working-class family in San Jose, where she was the youngest of three siblings. When she was in her twenties, she became a single mother and went to college when she was 30.

She would later reflect on how living in poverty, which was very different from the usual kind, influenced her perspectives on whiteness.

In 2007, she began teaching multicultural education at Westfield State University, which she did for eight years. She would then move to the University of Washington, where she became an affiliate professor of education.

Robin DiAngelo coined the term White Fragility in a paper she wrote in 2011. He described it as the withdrawal, silence, or anger among other responses that happen when white people have to deal with racial stress.

As it stands, she has been leading corporate training and workshops for more than two decades. While she has been very influential, she has also been criticized for plagiarism allegations against her in 2024, receiving much media attention.

In 2012, Robin DiAngelo published the work What Does It Mean to Be White, in which she asserts that white people are brought up to ignore racism.

DiAngelo argues that ideas such as defensiveness, colorblindness, and individualism make white illiterate about race. She also explains how white identities are shaped by racism and how it is almost impossible for white people to acknowledge the role they play in racial inequality.

At its core, it is a work that provides what has been called an easy-to-digest, anti racist guide for students, teachers, and diversity training groups.

Six years after her debut, Robin DiAngelo published the work White Fragility, in which she details how white people become defensive when issues about race are brought up.

She explores how emotions such as guilt, fear, and anger often accompany behaviors such as silence or arguing. She believes that these reactions often maintain racial inequality, as they are very effective at shutting down conversations.

Di Angelor argues that racism is systemic even as she shows how white people develop fragility and how it impedes progress, in addition to showing how they can respond better and engage in anti racist and meaningful discussions.

In 2021, DiAngelo published a follow-up to White Fragility in the work Nice Racism.

In this work, she speaks to whites as she explains how white people, who may sometimes be well-meaning, intentionally do things that result in racial harm. She explores habits such as avoiding discomfort, romanticising BIPOC, and denying racism.

DiAngelo also shares her own experiences and mistakes to help readers learn from them and urges white people to embrace long term anti racist work and accountability.

Robin DiAngelo: Lists & Other Mentions

• White Fragility was a New York Times: #1 Nonfiction Best Seller in 2020.

Related Authors

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1. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
2. J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings Series.
3. Neil Gaiman, author of the American Gods Series.
4. V.E. Schwab, author of the novel: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
5. Matt Haig, author of the novel: The Midnight Library.

Robin DiAngelo: F.A.Q