4 years in the past, Robin DiAngelo, creator of the bestselling “White fragility,” emerged as a distinguished public mental and advocate for racial justice and inclusion.
She now faces accusations that she plagiarized components of her Ph.D. dissertation on the College of Washington.
A complaint was acquired this month on the College of Washington and published from The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative on-line journal. The grievance accuses DiAngelo of “analysis misconduct” and particulars 20 situations through which DiAngelo seems to have used the work of different scientists and reproduced it with out correct attribution in her 2004 e book. dissertation“Whiteness in Racial Dialogue: A Discourse Evaluation.”
Among the many students whose work DiAngelo used with out correct acknowledgment, in response to the grievance, are Stacey J. Lee, professor of schooling on the College of Wisconsin-Madison, in addition to Thomas Ok. Nakayama of Northeastern College and his co-author Robert L. Krizek, professor emeritus at Saint Louis College.
Whereas DiAngelo cites the students whose concepts he reproduces and later cites them in his bibliography, the grievance highlights some prolonged passages that repeat phrases nearly phrase for phrase from their supply materials, with out citation marks.
Jonathan Bailey, a plagiarism knowledgeable and guide who reviewed the grievance, mentioned that whereas one or two of the passages cited within the grievance had been “undoubtedly troubling or problematic” examples of plagiarism, the remainder required solely minor corrections or didn’t seem considerably related sufficient. to show they had been copied.
The passages in query signify a small share of the dissertation, which totals 255 pages, not together with the bibliography and appendices, Bailey famous.
“I would not count on her to lose her Ph.D. past that,” Bailey mentioned. “What I might count on the college to do is ask her to revise the thesis and resubmit it.”
A College of Washington spokeswoman mentioned complaints about educational integrity are confidential and that the college is unable to verify the accuracy of a grievance.
“We’re dedicated to the integrity of the analysis performed on the College of Washington,” Dana Robinson Sloat, the college’s director of media relations, mentioned in an electronic mail. “All complaints are fastidiously thought of.”
In a press release, DiAngelo mentioned she expects the college to correctly examine the grievance and advised she was below scrutiny due to her work as a racism advocate.
“I’m assured that the College of Washington will fastidiously contemplate all considerations, and I imagine within the legitimacy of the peer assessment course of,” she mentioned. “Accusations of plagiarism must be pushed by the norms of academia, not biased actors with a well-documented agenda to discredit anti-racism work.”
Such complaints are filed anonymously, so it is unclear who filed the one towards DiAngelo or what motivated such a assessment 20 years after her dissertation was printed.
Debian Marty, professor emeritus at California State College, Monterey Bay, is without doubt one of the students whose work is cited within the grievance for example of scholarship that DiAngelo plagiarized. She declined to remark, saying she would enable “any official investigation to make the mandatory assessments.”
Three different scientists whose work was cited within the grievance as probably plagiarized didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The costs towards DiAngelo observe a number of different circumstances through which allegations of plagiarism and analysis misconduct have focused lecturers and directors who promote range, fairness and inclusion initiatives, Bailey mentioned. Comparable complaints have been filed towards range officers at Harvard, Columbia, UCLA and the College of Wisconsin-Madison.
“There are clearly political and ideological motives behind it, which is disappointing as a result of as somebody who takes plagiarism severely, utilizing it as an ideological weapon shouldn’t be encouraging,” Bailey mentioned. “We’re seeing DEI directors and people like DiAngelo who’re related to DEI initiatives and racial initiatives which might be being focused.”
In his dissertation, DiAngelo explored the idea of “white fragility”—the concept white individuals exist in a cocoon of privilege and really feel threatened by any suggestion that they perpetuate racism and segregation. In 2018, she launched a e book that builds on these concepts, White Fragility, which argues that white individuals like herself want to look at the methods through which they’re answerable for systemic racism. It grew to become a bestseller, launching DiAngelo as a spokesperson for anti-racism and in addition making her a magnet for criticism.
In 2020, the e book shot to #1 on Amazon as readers throughout the nation sought to grasp the legacy of racism in America following the killing of George Floyd. DiAngelo has addressed members of Congress and appeared on “The Tonight Present” with Jimmy Fallon, and has acquired requests to talk to main corporations akin to Amazon, Fb and American Specific.
