For rebel filmmaker Matt Walsh, it’s the most shocking scene in his new film, Am I racist?
On one couch sits Walsh, a hardline conservative posing as a conscientious interviewer in an attempt to lift the lid on the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) industry.
Opposite him is Robin DiAngelo, the celebrated author of White Fragility, who made a fortune shaming white people for their inherent bigotry.
Over the next nine hair-raising minutes, Walsh walks DiAngelo through a series of increasingly absurd scenarios in the name of eradicating racism.
She doesn’t seem to realize that she’s being tricked.
Through role-playing, DiAngelo is forced to humble himself for the sin of “smiling too much” at a minority coworker in an office hallway.
Thanks to his disguise, Walsh lands an interview with Robin DiAngelo, the leading anti-racism scholar who coined the phrase “white fragility.”
She then confronts Walsh’s producer, Ben, who is black, and asks him to atone for systemic racism.
She agrees, without irony, to say: “On behalf of myself and my white compatriots, I apologize.”
Finally, Walsh reaches into his pocket and gives Ben a handful of dollars as “reparations.”
He then urges DiAngelo to do the same.
At first, she is cautious and finds a personal payment for slavery “really strange.”
But, caught in the purity test, DiAngelo joins in.
She can ‘safely go get some cash,’ she says.
She crosses the room, pulls $30 from her designer purse and hands it to Ben, who celebrates the gesture as “small progress” in race relations.
It’s one of many cringeworthy, yet deeply funny, scenes in Walsh’s documentary, which frames DEI and America’s obsession with race as a scam perpetrated by con artists and bigots.
DiAngelo—perhaps the leading DEI practitioner of our time—falls into the trap.
Speaking to The Mail, Walsh, 38, says it was easy to expose her as an “empty vessel”.
“Her own worldview has her cornered,” she says.
“All I had to do was remind him.”
DiAngelo’s 2018 New York Times bestseller, White Fragility, argues that white people are insulated from racism and become defensive when confronted about it — when what they need to do is shut up and listen.
For his new documentary, Walsh posed as a rookie DEI consultant in a herringbone jacket and man bun.
Robin DiAngelo, author of the seminal text White Fragility, allegedly plagiarized several academics in her doctoral dissertation.
DiAngelo rose to fame with the publication of her 2018 New York Times bestselling book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.
According to Walsh, DiAngelo had to play by her own rules.
The sketch shows “what it’s like for a white person to take on this totally submissive and apologetic role,” he says.
‘You are not allowed to have any opinions of your own; you have to agree with what someone who has more victim points than you says.’
And he concludes: “It seems humiliating and degrading and very funny in a very dark way.”
The film’s Sept. 13 release caps an unpleasant month for DiAngelo, who faces accusations that she copied the work of two Asian-American colleagues in her doctoral dissertation.
The plagiarism accusation is particularly damaging for the 67-year-old, who has spoken of the need to give credit to other people’s work, especially minorities who are often ignored.
She did not respond to The Mail’s request for comment.
The rest of Walsh’s 1 hour and 41 minute film delights viewers with further parodies of anti-racist work.
They watch wizened liberals throw Walsh out of a workshop on “dueling white privilege” and a fancy dinner party where wealthy white women pay handsomely to hear their black host declare, “This country is not worth saving.”
Walsh portrays his DEI consultants as charlatans.
The workshop host, Breeshia Wade, charged her $30,000 for the session.
DiAngelo was listed for $15,000.
Walsh also appeared at the progressive dinner club Race2Dinner, where white guests pay thousands of dollars to be lectured on white supremacy.
Jodi Brown, who briefly gained prominence in 2022 by posting a video of her daughter and niece being crudely ignored by a performer at a runway show, has accepted $50,000 to help with her “healing” process, she says.
“You would think they would want to talk about race and racism and not demand huge sums for it,” Walsh says.
“It’s not like that. Everyone wants to get paid.”
The story is riddled with counterpoints of simple Americans, white and black, that convey the film’s key message: it’s best not to think too much about race and just treat everyone with kindness and respect.
The launch marks a phase change for Walsh’s media organization, The Daily Wire (DW).
The hardline outlet has a loyal following, especially among young people, but it fits oddly into America’s left-leaning media landscape.
Am I Racist? is DW’s first product to receive a nationwide theatrical release and is playing on AMC, Regal and other major networks.
Walsh says there have been no obstacles so far in bringing his provocative film to popcorn-eating audiences.
This is very different from her 2022 proposal, What is a Woman?, which attempted to debunk transgenderism.
At the time, Walsh was branded an “extremist” and “transphobic” for challenging the notion of gender identities.
It struggled to gain a wide audience until Elon Musk backed it on his X platform in June 2023.
The film culminates with Walsh in his alter ego teaching a workshop that introduces white attendees to “healing pain.”
“Corporate media” is comfortable when conservative content stays on its own platform and is only seen by “right-wing types,” Walsh says.
The commercial release of Am I Racist? could still be a problem.
“It will attract a lot more attention, probably in a negative way,” he added.
“We’ll see what happens.”
This raises the difficult question of what Walsh’s next move will be.
His first two films satirized two of America’s most liberal sacred cows: transgenderism and IED (Integrity and Equality Law).
The other issues he advocates on The Matt Walsh Show are even more conservative.
The father of six children denounces abortion and believes that marriage is for procreation, not for homosexual couples.
This led to a notoriously awkward exchange with podcaster Joe Rogan, as Walsh struggled to defend his views.
Walsh’s first two films may be provocative, but they still stick to the political center.
Most Americans are skeptical of transgenderism, and even many liberals reject race-based hiring in corporate America, polls show.
This is not the case with access to abortion and gay marriage, which enjoy overwhelming public support.
So will Walsh risk taking a satirical journey into abortion or same-sex unions?
For the moment, it seems the answer is no.
“It would seem much harder to turn them into funny comedy and satire,” Walsh told The Mail.
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