Meaning of black fragility | Babel Free

Definitions

A tendency on the part of black people to ascribe racism to a wide range of possibly benign words or actions.

uncountable

Examples

“Black fragility is the quality of being easily damaged or broken—due to a long history of external social pressures. The type of fragility just mentioned is not referring to any inherent weakness in the make-up of Black people because our history tells a very different story.”

“Black Fragility Infantilizes Blacks | There is an assumption of Black fragility in the anti-racism arguments. Blacks are treated as so weak that they cannot be disagreed with, criticized, or asked anything, lest they be irreparably harmed.”

“I have not felt empathy for cosmetic disputes like the use of the word "owner" for NBA owners. […] The term "owner" is a legal term. It is devoid of race unless one is driven to see race in everything in life. […] Many of these micro-calamities are rooted in Black Fragility, an inability to see beyond slaveholding. I see Black Fragility as the greatest threat to a healthy black culture and consciousness.”

CEFR level