Robin DiAngelo: Not Even Wrong
Few things have made me so grateful to live in a time when the phrase “not even wrong” exists. I’ve read parts of White Fragility and skimmed more. I didn’t realize how impactful she had become. I’m commenting today on this video of her I just watched:
“One plus one equals three” is, in mathematics, wrong. It might be nice in poetry and you can find ways to make it true in some artistic or other senses, but you don’t want someone building a bridge believing it right. On the other hand “one plus one equals frog” isn’t even wrong. You can create all sorts of ways to interpret it to give it truth in some sense, but not really a mathematical proof. It’s not even wrong.
As best I can tell, DiAngelo found a group of people who want to change, riddled with internal conflict and self-doubt. Instead of helping them, she’s created a framework to exacerbate their problems and lead them to believe those problems are permanent. Others may see her work differently. It’s an effective way to create a market for yourself of people needing help. If they believe you, they become dependent. They want to exit their confusion and, to the extent they contribute to racism, lower or reverse that impact. She makes them more helpless to do either, but suggests that they can through her. “Not even wrong” describes her message more accurately.
I wouldn’t call her contemptible for exacerbating these problems and instilling dependence on her exacerbating their problems, though it’s tempting. Unlike the scum of the earth people who write to scam people in moments of weakness like me mourning the death of his father, I think she mostly imagines herself helping. I suspect somewhere inside she realizes she’s preying on them, but only she knows.
Her message is full of “one plus one equals frog” ideas and thinking. I think the people in her audience feel so beaten, so in need of a lifeline, they’ll grasp at anything. I don’t think she’s trying to reach people who want to harm others for their skin color or increase systemic problems. It’s sad to see her taking advantage of people in such a condition, even if she thinks she’s helping. She’s addressing people who want to change and help. Sadly, they could be helped and she’s making it harder. They need leadership as I define it: helping people do what they already wanted to but haven’t figured out how.
I hope they find effective help, or at least liberate themselves from her web of dependence. Frankly, my upcoming book, Sustainability Simplified, can help them more, though that’s not its primary goal. If, after you read the book, you don’t see how and want to know, ask me and I’ll clarify, but it’s not out yet.
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