White fragility has to be one of the most bothersome things dealing with as a minority. What is white fragility you ask? Well, it is kind of like male fragility, only that it describes an attitude in which Caucasian-Americans are threatened by minorities (and diversity in general). If you are black like me, you might often hear things like “Well, I don’t understand why black power is a thing but white power is bad.” or “How come there are all black colleges but not all white colleges?” and my personal favorite, “Racism is dead, we had a black president for 8 years now!” It’s not just black people that have to deal with white fragility. Muslim-Americans have to deal with xenophobic Americans, Hispanic-Americans have to deal with folks like Trump label them as a menace to society, and don’t get me started on how Asians are treated. Perhaps you don’t see it like I do, but when a certain group has privileges for a while, the thought of someone different than you wanting equality sounds threating. It becomes a chore that no one wants to deal with, but just sweep it under the rug.
We’ve seen this before in American history. The white flight included Caucasian-Americans fleeing their well-to-do suburban neighborhoods, homely little urban homes, and decent jobs that helped communities thrived all because they were afraid of diversity. When the slaves were free, wanting to contribute to society as American citizens were denied, kick starting the Klan, Jim Crow, and racial segregation. We even see this today, as thousands of white people panicked during the election, letting their irrational fear of Muslims and Hispanics taking over the “American Dream” cloud their judgement, which resulted in Trump’s victory. The history of white fragility is a complex history which simply tells us how Caucasians of the past were afraid of change, and currently are to this day.
Even though we had an African-American president for 8 years, he faced major scrutiny for little no reason, and when people did find a reason, it was stupid (i.e. his birth certificate and Obamacare). There are was a time that people flipped out because his middle name was “Hussein”. This man is graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, his wife is a lawyer who graduated from Princeton and Harvard, and they had two kids who did everything to not become like the Bush twins, and yet they were still scrutinized.
When you say white power, you have to understand that meaning is negatively powerful. For the longest time it has always been about white power. No one ever stood up to that concept, and when people did they would get hurt. Black power was a chance to give African-Americans pride in a world in which they prohibited from having. Not to mention, Black power doesn’t involve the lives of other minorities being in danger. It isn’t just me that things white fragility is a problem, but many others too. It is honestly all about perspective at best.
