A black New York Times columnist and linguist from Columbia blasted author Robin DiAngelo for claiming he “doesn't speak for the majority of black people.”
John McWhorter wrote DiAngelo's controversial book White Fragility in response to her comments, saying: 'I'm “very conservative” like Clarence Thomas and Ben Carson? She has clearly barely read a word of my work.
“At least when I put her book down I had read every word, and I still maintain that White Fragility is literally the worst book ever written. It's so bad that it's an achievement.'
During an episode of The Pan-African Experience Podcast with Sochima Iroh, DiAngelo characterized John McWhorter as a right-winger, emphasizing that he does not represent the views of most Black people who challenge progressive dictates on race.
“John McWhorter is a black man and he is a conservative,” she claimed. “He says that not only has he rarely experienced racism, but that being black has been an advantage. “I wouldn't wish anything less on him, but I don't think he speaks for the vast majority of black people.”
DiAngelo — who is white and has been labeled a “racial grifter” by critics in her best-selling anti-racist book — further compared McWhorter's position to that of conservative figures like Ben Carson and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
'His record is very conservative. I would put him with Ben Carson and Clarence Thomas and people like that,” she added. But McWhorter has described himself as a “cranky liberal Democrat” who simply abhors what he calls the excesses of wokeness.
Robin DiAngelo, left, was said by New York Times columnist John McWhorter to write the worst book of all time after she said in a podcast that the writer did not speak for all black people
McWhorter – who is also a linguist at Columbia University – has dismissed DiAngelo's claims that he is a conservative of the same ilk as Clarance Thomas. He says he's a 'cranky liberal Democrat' who abhors the excesses of wokeness
McWhorter turned to X, formerly of Twitter, on Wednesday to express the offensive approach.
he wrote, accompanied by a clip from the podcast.
DiAngelo responded to McWhorter's 2020 Atlantic article calling her out on the claim that she had aroused “white women's tears.”
In “The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility,” McWhorter claimed that DiAngelo's popular book was intended to combat racism but was condescending to black people.
In March, the author of “White Fragility” was accused of advocating racial segregation in an effort to combat racism, stunning critics.
“People of color need to distance themselves from white people and build community with each other,” DiAngelo said during a March 1 webinar, “Racial Justice: The Next Frontier.”
DiAngelo then suggested that people who do not yield to anti-racist teachings do not belong in the modern workforce.
“In 2023, we need to see the ability to have these conversations with some nuance and some skill as a basic qualification and if you can't do that, you're simply not qualified in today's workplace,” DiAngelo said.
DiAngelo – who is white – has been branded a “race grifter” for her book White Fragility, which sold millions of copies following the killing of George Floyd as many Americans sought to expand their understanding of systemic racism
The left-wing activist was on a panel with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultants Mary-Frances Winters and Mareisha N. Reese discussing the future of DEI when she made the comments
“What I want to do is create a culture that actually spits out those who resist.”
The racially charged comments angered conservatives on Twitter.
“Robin DiAngelo sounds like an old-school segregationist,” anti-CRT expert Chris Rufo tweeted in response to the clip.
Conservative podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey said DiAngelo's comments sounded like racist comments from Dilbert creator Scott Adams, which caused several newspapers to retract his long-running cartoon.
“If Robin DiAngelo says it, it's inspiring and she gets paid $20,000. If Scott Adams says it, it's racist and he'll lose his job,” she tweeted.
Darrell B. Harrison, director of digital platforms at Grace to You Ministries, argued that DiAngelo's comments revealed her own racist attitudes.
'For people like Robin DiAngelo, it's always other white people that black people 'need to leave', but never her. DiAngelo is a woke Bull Connor, but instead of dogs and fire hoses, she uses the divisive and factious tenets of critical race theory to keep blacks in their place,” he tweeted.
The left-wing activist was on a panel with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultants Mary-Frances Winters and Mareisha N. Reese discussing the future of DEI when she made the comments.
Her most recent book title, “The Facilitator's Guide for White Affinity Groups: Strategies for Leading White People in an Anti-Racist Practice,” also suggests that she believes whites should remain within their own racialized social circles.
DiAngelo has published a number of scholarly articles on race, privilege and education and written several books.
In 2011 she wrote together with Ozlem Sensoy: 'Is everyone really equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Critical Social Justice Education.”
The book won the American Educational Research Association's Critics' Choice Book Award in 2012 and the Society of Professors of Education Book Award in 2018.
DiAngelo published an article later that year entitled “White Fragility” in The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, coining the term.
She defined the concept of white fragility as “a state in which even a minimal amount of racial stress becomes unbearable, triggering a series of defensive movements.”
The book became a huge bestseller after the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, as white Americans rushed to deepen their understanding of systemic racism.
Since 2016, DiAngelo has regularly led workshops on this topic. In 2017, the term 'white fragility' was shortlisted by the Oxford Dictionary for Word of the Year.
In addition to being an author, DiAngelo is a professor at Westfield State University in Massachusetts
White Fragility debuted in 2018, but has become more popular as the country has become more concerned with racial issues
And in June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, White Fragility reached number one on the New York Times list.
DiAngelo makes an estimated $728,000 a year from speaking engagements and workshops and charges an average of $14,000 per speech to talk about “utlra-woke” concepts.
DiAngelo, who holds a doctorate in multicultural education from the University of Washington, has written several books about confronting racism, including the New York Times bestseller “White Fragility.”
When “White Fragility” debuted in 2018, her average speaking fee was $6,200, according to her website.
From there they rose steadily to $9,200 in 2019 and $14,000 in August 2020.
Now she says her agency – Big Speak – is negotiating her fees, which are listed between $30,000 and $40,000 on the company's website. She also earns 7.5 percent in royalties from “White Fragility.”
Her main focus is “accountability within anti-racist work is the understanding that what I profess to value must be demonstrated in action,” according to her website.