Disney’s exceptionally and unapologetically woke reboot of the Proud Family has added ‘white fragility’ to the list of hot button topics it addresses, prompting continued backlash against the show and Disney online.
On a recent episode of the show, a black character, clearly frustrated, explains the concept of ‘white fragility’ to his white male spouse and references activists Robin DeAngelo’s much maligned book of the same title, published in 2018.
The black character roughly explains the concept as ‘being defensive about race.’
The series’ full name is The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and airs on Disney’s struggling streaming service, Disney+.
It was initially slammed for a woke rap performed by the students around whom the show revolved, who performed a number about reparations and claimed that ‘slaves built this country.’
‘White Fragility’ was written by DiAngelo, a professional diversity trainer and academic, who says at myriad corporate trainings she experienced hostility from white people when discussing race.
DiAngelo’s book, despite hefty criticism of it, has played a significant role in defining the modern discourse about race. The book, for instance, fast identifies white progressives as the leading cause of ‘daily damage’ to people of color.
‘White progressives can be the most difficult for people of color because, to the degree that we think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived,’ she wrote.
‘None of our energy will go into what we need to be doing for the rest of our lives: engaging in ongoing self-awareness, continuing education, relationship building, and actual antiracist practice.
‘White progressives do indeed uphold and perpetrate racism, but our defensiveness and certitude make it virtually impossible to explain to us how we do so.’
The select clip from the episode was tweeted out by an account called ‘End Wokeness’ and received responses that ranged in their degrees of disapproval.
‘I wish I had Disney plus so I could cancel it,’ wrote Jake Shields.
Jim Hanson, who boasts more than 80,000 Twitter followers, wrote, ‘That book is absolute garbage,’ referring to DeAngelo’s exploration of ‘white fragility.’
Young America’s Foundation simply tweeted back a meme of Park and Recreations character Ron Swanson chucking the Disney logo into a giant dumpster.
This is the second time in recent weeks the show has been ripped for featuring expressly ‘anti-white propaganda.’
The first time was during an episode in which the show’s characters discover that their town was built by slaves and then giving a presentation to their school and deliver a presentation about it in rap form.
During the episode, the characters, who are predominantly black, rule that Abraham Lincoln had no desire to end slavery – and so stage a petition to get his statue removed.
