Summary

In Chapter 9, “White Fragility,” Rodríguez describes the complications of writing about white fragility. White fragility is complex, because it prevents whites from “having conversations around their own racism” (183). Such white people “consider anyone who challenges” their goodness a threat (183).

During a trip “to the Mexico/Arizona border” in graduate school, Rodríguez and her BIPOC peers took a photograph at the site where José Antonio Elena Rodríguez “was murdered by a border patrol agent” (183, 186). While taking the photo, a white classmate pushed into the frame. Her action was “blithely ignorant” (187). When Rodríguez explained “to her the situation,” the girl accused Rodríguez of being homophobic, as she was queer (187).

Rodríguez has encountered innumerable examples of white fragility in academia. She also experienced it in more personal contexts, including while visiting her white boyfriend’s family. One of his...