 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com Race is, and always has been, an explosive issue in the United States. In this timely new book, Tim Wise explores how Barack Obama’s emergence as a political force is taking the race debate to new levels. According to Wise, for many white people, Obama’s rise signifies the end of racism as a pervasive social force; they point to Obama not only as a validation of the American ideology that anyone can make it if they work hard, but also as an example of how institutional barriers against people of color have all but vanished. But is this true? And does a reinforced white belief in color-blind meritocracy potentially make it harder to address ongoing institutional racism? After all, in housing, employment, the justice system, and education, the evidence is clear: white privilege and discrimination against people of color are still operative and actively thwarting opportunities, despite the success of individuals like Obama. Is black success making it harder for whites to see the problem of racism, thereby further straining race relations, or will it challenge anti-black stereotypes to such an extent that racism will diminish and race relations improve? Will blacks in power continue to be seen as an “exception” in white eyes? Is Obama “acceptable” because he seems “different from most blacks,” who are still viewed too often as the dangerous and inferior “other”? Tim Wise is among the most prominent antiracist writers and activists in the US and has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and MSNBC Live. His previous books include Speaking Treason Fluently and White Like Me. |
Average Customer Rating:   Now I know the meaning of the word "screed"... Wise reminds me of myself as a young fool. He shows what it means to put one's intellect at the service of advocacy instead of learning, and to love an idea so much you begin to hate any evidence that stands in its way.
He is the exact opposite of a scholar. He has no interest in asking questions, and no concern at all with the methodology used to collect answers. Wise starts with his conclusion, and whatever else happens in the pages of his text, he entertains no path that might sever him from that conclusion. For him, the gathering of evidence is not something you do before making up your mind, it's something you do afterwards, for the sake of convincing others.
Fellow readers will easily spot the symptoms of this mentality. Wise never concedes a point, and never leaves a position open to future amendment. He never says things like "the data on this point is troubling, and it remains very possible that evidence will later show..." If he doesn't like the conclusion commonly drawn from an uncomfortable fact (e.g., racial differences in IQ test results), he will deny the conclusion, deny the fact itself, and for good measure toss in a little ad hominen against anyone who doesn't deny it.
Like all meta-narrative fallacies, his method is nearly foolproof. If Obama had lost the election, he could have published this book with just a few modifications. As it happened, Obama won, but that didn't stop Wise from using this historic election as proof of racism's persistence. Think about that!
What makes a theory interesting is that it says something that might later be shown wrong. Wise, however, cannot be wrong - because whatever happens, he will use his admittedly considerable gifts to show how events confirm what he has been saying all along.
Worth reading only as a cautionary tale for the young intellectual who sincerely wants to avoid becoming a psuedo-intellectual. Tim Wise, you are definitely wise! This book helped come to realization of how little I knew about group dominance and suppression within the context of racism and sexism, two principles upon which our entire planet is governed! Great Intelligent Reading just finished it and I gotta say...wow. Really well argued, articulated, revealing and extremely thought provoking. But also somewhat depressing...honestly.
Wise makes a compelling case, putting it all out there. And at the end of the book, you'll be convinced the man is appropriately named.
Highly recommended. misinformed amateur author This author is a joke - a moron. No wonder he only has a few ratings (most likely what few friends he has!).. Not About Blame I am thoroughly convinced that we have reached a point in American history where racism can only be addressed and, eventually, abolished though the conscious action of White America. Just as women who speak against sexism are labeled weak and accused of whining; blacks who speak against racism are destined to be accused of 'playing the race card'.
Tim Wise constructs two pithy arguments pertaining the "Call for White Responsibility". First, Wise discusses the denial of racism in the current age. Second, Wise discusses the need for white Americans to confront, attack and reverse the impact of white privilege.
People of all races must be wary of the concept of "transcending Blackness". This is the tendency to accept a select segment of the Black population because the defy the current stigmatism of negative stereotypes. Wise examines this phenomenon in detail.
Second, people of all races must admit that the vast majority of white Americans currently living are not to blame for current systems of racism which are in place. However, Wise is calling for Caucasians to acknowledge any benefits that they may receive from the inherited system and work towards truly equalizing the American experience through the abolition of racism.
If I could suggest that every American read a selection of Tim Wise before they attend an American University, I would. Perhaps the world would be a different place. |  |
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