Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama (Paperback)

~ Tim Wise (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wise, a white anti-racism activist and scholar (and author of White Like Me), pushes plenty of buttons in this methodical breakdown of racism's place in the wake of Barack Obama's victory. In the first of two essays, the author obliterates the canard of the US as a post-racial society; bigotry and insititutionalized discrimination, he contends, have simply morphed into "Racism 2.0," in which successful minorities are celebrated "as having 'transcended' their blackness in some way." While racial disparities in employment and income, housing, education and other areas persist, Obama has become an amiable sitcom dad like Bill Cosby, putting whites at ease by speaking, looking and acting "a certain way"-not to mention avoiding discussion of race. In his second, more incendiary essay, Wise concludes that whites must take responsibility for racism. What the majority of whites fail to grasp, he says, is that they continue to benefit from a system of "entrenched privileges" centuries in the making, and that racism remains a serious obstacle for millions of African Americans. There's no sugar coating here for whites, nor are there any news flashes for Americans of color, but Wise bravely enumerates the unpalatable truths of a nation still struggling to understand its legacy of racist oppression.
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Review

"From income and jobs, housing, education, criminal justice, and healthcare, Wise masterfully demonstrates the continuing disparities between black and white America. He notes the absence of these issues in the Obama-Biden campaign or the attempt to read structural inequalities through a race-free lens called CLASS. At every step, Wise absolves the Obama campaign of responsibility for their less than candid approach to racial issues, saying that campaign strategists confronted the reality of white racism by side-stepping the issue. . . Wise's book provides welcome relief to the obnoxious self-congratulation that followed Obama's election to the presidency." --Jillian McLaughlin, The Kosmopolitan Online

"From the Civil Rights struggle, to Dr. King's dream, to Barack Obama's election, Tim Wise provides us with an extremely important and timely analysis of the increasing complexity of race on the American political and social landscape. 'Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama,' provides an insightful and much needed lens through which we can begin to navigate this current stage in our ongoing quest for a more inclusive definition of who we are as a nation. It's definitely a book for these times!!!" --Danny Glover, Actor, Human Rights Activist

"His writing and thinking constitute a bulwark of common sense, and uncommon wisdom, on the subject of race, politics and culture. He is a national treasure." --Michael Eric Dyson --Michael Eric Dyson

"The punning title of his book, Between Barack and a Hard Place , belies the sobering material within. Wise paints a stark picture of racial inequality in the United States today. . . .Wise's short book reads like an old-school polemic: Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' for the 21st century. . . . A post-racial United States is an imagined country."--Adam Bradley, The Washington Post --The Washington Post

"This book makes an intriguing argument and is packed with insight. Wise clearly explains the complexity of institutional racism in contemporary society. He continuously reminds the reader that Obama's victory may signal the entrenchment of a more complicated, subtle, and insidious form of racism. The jury is still out." --Jeff Torlina, Multicultural Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers (January 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872865002
• ISBN-13: 978-0872865006
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very penetrating book, February 15, 2009

By	Chris (Washington state, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Mr. Wise's several internet essays after the great triumph of hope (Obama's election) last November left me a little worried about him. He seemed a little too caught up in the irrational exuberance of the period as he denounced left wing gadflies who were, in his opinion, spoiling the joy of the moment by continuing to denounce Obama as a pro-corporate militarist front. But in spite of the understandable celebration of having the first black president, there is the inescapable fact that Obama's policies, stripped of the veneer of pretty rhetoric, are hardly different than his Democratic presidential predecessors. In his short time in office, while doing a few small good things, he has already shown his commitment to the fundamentals of the military industrial complex and the re-empowerment of Wall Street speculators. I'm glad that Mr. Wise, as this book demonstrates, has managed to retain a level head regarding Obama, in spite of those post-election essays.

Quoting sources like academic studies and Department of Justice reports, Wise shows that racism is still a serious problem in this society. Black and brown people are 25 percent of the drug users in this country but make up 90 percent of those in prison for drug possession. White people are 70 percent of the drug users yet are only ten percent of the persons in prison for such a crime. A 2001 report from the Department of Justice found that black women were 9 times more likely than white women to be stopped at airports and searched for contraband but white women were 2 times more likely than black women to actually have drugs on them. More blacks than whites are pulled over by police on suspicion of having contraband but white people are actually more likely to have contraband in these incidents. Studies show that at least a third of businesses have discriminated in hiring based on race. A National Opinion research survey in the early 90's found that 50 to 60 percent of whites were willing to admit to holding the view that blacks are generally lazier, more prone to violence, etc. than whites. In a September 2008 AP poll, 60 percent of likely Democratic voters admitted to having negative views about blacks in general but still planned to vote for Obama. A big stereotype that polling among whites has revealed is that whites associate blacks with welfare dependency, even though, as Wise notes, 5 of 6 blacks have never received welfare. Wise notes that a Wall Street Journal article in 1995 showed that around 70 percent of whites with bad credit could still get a mortgage but only 16 percent of blacks with bad credit could do so. As for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, Wise notes how federal government policies have caused a veritable ethnic cleansing of blacks from New Orleans. Wise also recounts the horrendous incidents in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans during Katrina.

Wise is very worried that while Obama's election signifies some good things, it also could serve to make fighting racism even harder. Obama's election could serve to reinforce white racism. White people already have pointed to Obama's election as proof that if black folks would just work hard and stop complaining, they can rise to the pinnacle of this society just like Oprah, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, etc. One of my favorite statements that Wise makes in this book (as in his previous book) relates to the argument that Obama's election proves racism is not a serious problem in this country. To make such a claim, according to Wise, is like arguing that because Benazir Bhutto was one of the leading political figures in Pakistan, that proves that sexism and violence against women is not a serious problem in that country.

I'm particularly glad that Wise puts something in this book about the right wing talking point that the current financial crises has been caused by the Community Redevelopment Act(CRA) forcing banks to lend money to financially troubled people of color. In reality, a large majority of sub-prime loans were made by the big mortgage houses, which were not covered by the CRA. Loans made under the CRA actually have a significantly less default rate than regular loans. Wise notes that studies have shown that black people have not uncommonly been directed into sub-prime mortgages even when they qualify for a prime loan. Greedy bankers brought down this financial system by deliberately starting speculative bubbles not because ACORN and the federal government terrorized them into making bad loans. As for ACORN, Wise dispels the notion that they encouraged reckless lending. In his endnotes, Wise also notes the fake scare about ACORN trying to engage in voting fraud.

Wise does not believe that, in many ways, Obama's victory represents a very significant step in the battle against racism. Obama, after all, rarely addressed the issue of white supremacy and so he made white folks feel comfortable just as Bill Cosby's sitcom made white folks comfortable. Obama has wholeheartedly embraced the pre-dominant white narrative about the heroic and more or less virtuous character of American history.

Wise argues that to make significant progress between the races, white people are going to have to no longer dismiss black people who tell stories of the way racism has affected their life. They must understand why a lot of black people were not disturbed by Jeremiah Wright's false claim that white people created the AIDS virus to use against black people. After all, it has been well documented over the years where black people have been used in medical experiments against their will, for example injected with plutonium and cancer cells. Our own CIA, as the Senate Church Committee revealed in the 1970's, conduced "medical experiments" under the MK Ultra program, including, in the early 50's, releasing yellow fever and whooping cough mosquitoes in black populated areas of Miami and Savannah, Georgia.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not About Blame, August 12, 2009

By	Lhea J. Love "www.lheajlove.net" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

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.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Between Barack and a Hard Place -- Wise Does it Again, February 1, 2009

By	Matthew Johnson - See all my reviews

Between Barack and a Hard Place is an accurate, timely, much-needed scathing analysis of the current state of racism in the United States. As many Americans are being lulled into believing that racism has been eradicated by the election of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Through use of many contemporary and historical examples, Wise illustrates how the dominant narrative of racial equality being achieved with this election is being crafted and perpetuated, and what it might mean for racism in our society.

Anyone who believes in fighting for social justice and equality needs to read this book. It's a pointed read at only 150 pages, but it's incredibly thorough and concise.