Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) [Paperback]

Tim J. Wise (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005 | ISBN-10: 041595049X | ISBN-13: 978-0415950497 | Edition: First Edition

Affirmative Action examines the larger structure of institutional white privilege in education, and compares the magnitude of white racial preference with the policies typically envisioned when the term "racial preference" is used. In doing so, the book demonstrates that the American system of education is both a reflection of and a contributor to a structure of institutionalized racism and racial preference for the dominant majority.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Wise's insightful defense of affirmative action flips the script on the so-called 'racial preference' debate. Not only does he respond effectively to the deceptive arguments of the right, but he also proves beyond question that every day is affirmative action day for the dominant group in America. Until that reality is altered, we must fight the ongoing assault on civil rights and equity measures. This book will make that effort much easier.
–Kimberlé Crenshaw, Professor, Columbia University School of Law and UCLA Law School; Executive Director, African American Policy Forum

In my judgment Tim Wise is the very best of the white anti-racism writers and commentators working in the U.S. media today... He writes in such an interesting and readable way, and yet backs up what he says with data and evidence. This is what is so impressive about his work.
–Joe R. Feagin, Ella C. McFadden Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University

Tim Wise is one of the most brilliant, articulate, and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation. His considerable rhetorical skills, his fluid literary gifts and his relentless search for the truth make him a critical ally in the fight against racism and a true soldier in the war for social justice.
–Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of African-American and Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania

About the Author

Tim J. Wise is the Race and Ethnicity Editor for LIP magazine. He speaks, writes, and advocates across the country to dismantle racism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; First Edition edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 041595049X
• ISBN-13: 978-0415950497
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #899,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S., and has been called, ""One of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation,"" by best-selling author and professor Michael Eric Dyson, of Georgetown University. Wise has spoken in 48 states, and on over 400 college campuses, including Harvard, Stanford, and the Law Schools at Yale and Columbia, and has spoken to community groups around the nation. Wise is the 2008 Oliver L. Brown Distinguished Visiting Scholar for Diversity Issues at Washburn University, in Topeka, Kansas: an honor named for the lead plaintiff in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. He is the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, and Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White. A collection of his essays, Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male, was published in the Fall of 2008."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading, June 15, 2005

By 

Jane (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) (Paperback)

Even as a person who cares about race issues and followed the Michigan cases with great interest, I found this book to be tremendously eye-opening. Mr. Wise examines many of the myths surrounding affirmative action programs and race, and methodically and persuasively "de-bunks" them, in many cases merely by unpacking the statistics that were cited in the Michigan cases themselves. I've already given this book to several friends to read, all of whom found it as absorbing and fascinating as I did. And I've cited it to many other friends, including a number of black friends, to point out the many myths that have heretofore gone unchallenged, even in the black community. I wish I could give a copy of this book to everyone in the United States. I'd love to witness and take part in the dialogue that came out of that reading project. I can't recommend this book highly enough. And do be sure to read White Like Me, Mr. Wise's other recently published book.

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reclaiming Affirmative Action in the face of White Privilege, August 16, 2005

By 

Clear Evidence (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) (Paperback)

Again, as he did in "White Like Me", Wise forces America to look itself in the face and examine the reflection with honesty and integrity. In this book, Wise appeals to common sense, and "scientific minds" for those who need proof for the otherwise obvious, and makes one of the most compelling arguments for affirmative action while rebutting, with countless research, the dubious arguments of those who claim that affirmative action, particulary in college admissions policies, is reverse discrimination and a system of "handouts" to unqualified blacks, who in essence steal the seats from qualified whites. He demonstrates how subscribers to such arguments base their claims almost entirely on the "racial gap" in SAT, ACT, and GRE scores that supposedly "prove" how whites are being discriminated against when blacks with lower test scores take whites' "rightly earned" seats. However, through use of countless research, Wise demonstrates not only how research after research shows that these standardized test neither reflect ability nor determine grades in college. He further shows through research how the tests fail to predict graduation rates for students of any race.

As a deafening blow to the "reverse discrimination" claim, Wise points to the overwhelming evidence pointing not only to blacks' competence once admitted to college (that is often superior to their white counterparts with higher test scores) but to the fact that whites with lower test scores, admitted because of parent alumnus status, take far more seats from "more qualified whites" than all affirmative action admits put together. Yet, those who decry affirmative action on grounds of racial discrimination effectively ignore this fact. Even more bizarre is that it never enters the radar screen for their arguments. For if the argument against affirmative action is that unqualified blacks are admitted over their more qualified white counterparts (based on test scores), by definition, decriers of affirmative action must be infuriated by the overwhelming number of "unqualified" white admits (sons and daugthers of parent alumni) who take the seats of more "qualified" white students. After all, the alum status admits have exceedingly more priority than affirmative action admits, so much so that beneficiaries of affirmative action wouldn't even make the chart for a statistical comparison to the admission rate of children of alums. Yet, opposers of affirmative action condone this "unjust" admission policy, as if saying, as long as the "unqualified" admit is white, he/she belongs there; if he/she is black, certainly a white student should be there in his/her place. This crippling discrepancy alone shows the inherent racism, and dubious foundation, in the reverse discrimination argument itself.

As if these arguments were not compelling enough, Wise goes on to demonstrate how the recent white "reverse discrimination" plaintiffs, based on the schools' admission policies, would not have been admitted to the college of their choice, even if affirmative action were not in place. Furthermore, none of their lawyers even attempted to argue that the black student admits were not fully qualifed to be admitted...because they were, demonstrated both by admission policies that put little weight on test scores in the first place and black student graduation rates after admission.

The underlying premise of all of Wise's arguments is that there has always been a system of "affirmative action" for whites in virtually all areas of life: housing, schooling, and employment; and until this "affirmative action" ceases to be in place, the affirmative action in response to the racism plaguing this society must remain in place, not only for the benefit of blacks, but for the benefit of a just, right-thinking society at large.

Finally, Wise appeals to proponents of affirmative action by advising them to reclaim affirmative action, not through watered-down arguments calling for "campus diversity" (an argument that in itself works to keep white privilege and power structure in place) but through the need for affirmative action in the face of the continuing prevalence of white "affirmative action" that defines this nation's past and present. After all, it was in response to this racist system that affirmative action was put in practice in the first place. Thus it is on this premise, that is backed by scores of research and common sense, that this system of justice must be reclaimed in the face of white privilege.