White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the book over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. White Fragility uses a wide range of citations and examples, focusing primarily on sociology.

• What are some of the secondary or primary sociological evidence from the text that supports DiAngelo’s theory of “white fragility”? (topic sentence)
• Examine concepts like “habitus” from Chapter 7 and general sociology on whiteness
• DiAngelo furthers the sociological conversation about whiteness by elaborating the concept of “white fragility”

2. Almost every chapter of White Fragility begins with an epigraph that describes an interaction between people.

• How do these epigraphs contribute to the work as a whole? (topic sentence)
• Explore 2-3 of the epigraphs and how they relate to individual chapters
• Explain if you think DiAngelo’s epigraphs effectively explicate the themes of White Fragility

3. DiAngelo describes a number of assumptions that undergird white fragility.

• What are the origins of the most pervasive assumptions that further white fragility? (topic sentence)
• Choose several assumptions discussed in the book and examine how they came to be
• In your conclusion, give your thoughts about why you think these assumptions have persisted in American society

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. White Fragility uses a wide range of citations and examples, primarily from the field of sociology. Using some of the secondary or primary evidence from the text, analyze DiAngelo’s theory of white fragility.

2. What is the purpose of DiAngelo’s Author’s Note? How does it relate to the text as a whole and prepare white readers to discuss the potentially uncomfortable subject of how they—even inadvertently—participate and perpetuate systems of racist oppression?

3. In a personal essay, relate your own experience with white supremacy and racism to DiAngelo’s ideas.