Douglas Murray Douglas Murray

What a leaked NHS memo tells us about White Fragility

[Getty Images]

Of all the people who have made cash in the past month, few can have raked it in like Robin DiAngelo. Since the death of George Floyd, the white American academic and author of White Fragility has been absolutely milking it. A term I probably shouldn’t use, since Peta last week declared milk a symbol of white supremacy. I might say she is absolutely creaming it, though by the time you read this ‘cream’ might be racist too. In which case it will join the British countryside, which was designated as racist by the BBC’s Countryfile last week. A fact that I learned after opening Google’s homepage, where I was educated about the late black American drag queen Marsha Johnson.

Anyhow, I mention DiAngelo because even before her recent rush of fame, anyone wishing to employ her to correct their opinions had to shell out $6,000 an hour. Or $12,000 for two hours. That is what DiAngelo charged the University of Kentucky last year for a two-hour session on racial injustice. I imagine that she charges more for all those CEOs now queuing up to hire the Miss Whiplash of anti-racism to come up to their offices and spend an afternoon telling them how bad and worthless they are.

Then there are the book sales. Ever since a Minnesota cop killed Mr Floyd, endless companies and individuals have sent out ‘reading lists’ instructing us all of what to read. Each time DiAngelo’s 2018 work tops the list.

‘Best tweet as little as possible. Just gets you into trouble.’

Consider a document I’ve just been leaked from the office of the chief executive of the Birmingham and Solihull NHS Mental Health Trust. Dated 5 June and titled ‘Inequalities and Racial Discrimination’ it starts by claiming that recent events in America ‘have highlighted once again the discrimination and inequality experienced by people of BAME heritage every day’.

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