Customer Reviews

Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male

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Tim Wise is at it again. Not since "White Like Me," has he launched such a spirited attack on what he has euphemistically called "Racism 2.0," the latest more stealth but no less potent version of the old brutal version of Racism 1.0. Here he marshals all of the statistics for those who care, of how the racial chips are still stacked heavily against mostly black Americans, but also against any Americans of color, including Asians, who tend to do better than whites on all of the parameters that racists whites consider determinative, including on standardized intelligence tests. But rather than get into the statistics of the racial politics Wise uncovers, (I notice that other reviewers have covered them well in any case), I want to suggest to the author that as one of only a handful of remaining active and vocal white anti-racists, that he did not go quite far enough.

The real price of racism (which incidentally is also the real reason that it remains so persistent) is that white humanity remains so heavily invested in, and dependent on, its not so well-hidden but cross-generational benefits. It is with a combination of denial, tribal bullying, skewed laws (and even more skewed law enforcement), thinly veiled racist justifications for continued racial discrimination, as well as informal "white only" tribal networks, that whites continue to maintain the fiction of racial superiority, a fiction that helps to maintain the ideology of racism in the present steady state.

But also, as this author has been the first to point out, it is "pandering to white racism" that keeps the light from shining on the true source of America's racial problems: continuing white comfort with, and confidence in, the present fragile social arrangements. Arguably, it is as much "professional blacks from the "Uncle Tom Nation," like our biracial president, and his millionaire supporters like Oprah, Bill Cosby and the president of BET, Bob Johnson, as much as the racists themselves, lean over backwards to continue to accommodate the "latter day racists" and thus continue to enable and assist the installation of Racism version 2.0. Were this cadre of enablers able to muster the courage to stand up on their hind legs and use their "always accidental success" not as an example of how "fair" the American system has been, but as what their success really means: that they are but the tokens that disproves the much larger rule of racism as usual,then the vast majority of racist whites would no longer be so smug in declaring Obama's election the beginning of a new "post-Racial America." How can this be when every objective indicator of black progress except a few tokens here and there, has turned decidedly for the worse, and is doing so at a faster and faster rate?

As Wise shows here, the proof is always in the pudding, and the facts continue to show overwhelmingly that even in post-racial America, blacks are falling behind at a rate so alarming, that arguably, it is faster than at any time in the nation's history. In such a world Obama's presidency simply becomes a shield and a veil for continuing racism in the same steady state.

And as is usual for Wise, he cites chapter and verse. And the details are far from pretty. As blacks sink further and further into America's racist quagmire, white Americans, using a combination of denial, political correctness, the shield of "professional Uncle Toms and Aunt Jemimas from the "Uncle Tom Nation," and racist police forces in most of the inner cities, to become more and more heavily invested in a pernicious bankrupt profoundly unfair and racist social order.

Something has got to give.

Tim Wise sees where this is all heading and wants to use reason to head if off. But he is a lonely voice in a wilderness of white denial. Five stars.

A real education about America and the real intelligence of it's people. While it's now to be read in a humorous way, as that was not the intention of the author, there are many elements of humor as one recognizes the absurdity in the thinking of it's "citizens."

Unfortunately, those who should read it, most probably won't. Their mind is already made up, please don't bother then with the facts. Remember, most people who are among those getting screwed, have no idea that they are getting screwed, and believe it's only the other guy.

Then again, hopefully this review will entice them to actually read this book for the betterment of America.

This book contains Mr. Wise's wonderfully cogent essays on race going back 7 or 8 years. The essays are well written in a calm, logical manner.

White people are 70 percent of drug users yet are only about 10 percent of persons imprisoned for drug possession in this country. At the same time black and latino folks are 25 percent of the drug users in this country yet make up close to 90 percent of the people imprisoned for the crime. Wise notes that in spite of spite of such a reality, citing a Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education study, around 95 percent of white people believe a typical drug user to be black. It is true, he notes, that African Americans commit a higher rate of some street crimes than their percentage of the total population of this country. That is to be expected for folks who grow up in the terrible conditions of the inner city. But blacks only commit about 3 percent of the violent crimes each year, according to Wise. On the other hand white people commit a disproportionate share of the serial killing, child molestation and drunk driving in this country. Young white college students disproportionately make up our country's binge drinkers. White men are two thirds of our rapists.

Wise talks a little about the crimes of white collar white folks. It was old white dudes who deliberately bombed Iraq's electrical grids in 1991, knowing full well that such actions would shut off electricity to Iraq's water and sewage treatment plants and so cause tens of thousands of deaths from epidemics. It was white Republicans who oversaw US aid to the death squad democracies in Central America in the 1980's, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. It was white men who cut funding for the levees in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina or diverted such funds to build freeway off-ramps for casinos. It was white guys who caused the Bhopal horror. It was white guys who used the sexual organs of Native Americans they murdered as souvenirs as our brave troops did at Sand Creek Colorado in 1864.

One of my favorite points that Wise makes is that while many white folks tend to picture blacks as dangerous criminals, they don't similarly racially categorize crime when white kids from "good families" go on rampages. Almost all school shootings have been conducted by white kids. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage have been caused by beer riots at universities. During a riot at Michigan State University in the late 90's, white students were seen trying to pry a rifle from a police car and at Washington state University in the same period, 23 cops had to be sent to the hospital. Now if these youth trying to steal the rifle were black, you can imagine that police would have shot and killed them. At Michigan State in 2002, white students launched a premeditated riot, threw rocks and bricks and bottles at cops and chanted "f--- the police." At Woodstock 1999 young white people trashed the place, looted ATM machines and young white ladies were raped by some of the young white fellows in attendance.

Wise argues that this is still very much a racist society. He cites academic studies to show that well qualified blacks with no criminal records have trouble getting well paying jobs, housing, home loans, etc. Black people are being ethnically cleansed out of New Orleans, as their housing is demolished under the guise of Katrina reconstruction. He cites a Journal of Public Health study which showed that from 1991 to 2000, close to 900,000 black people died because physicians chose not to provide them with proper care.

Wise argues that whites tend to be oblivious to their own privilege. Much of this country's wealth was originally produced on the backs of black slaves. Beginning with the New Deal, federal programs built up the wealth of white people. This is especially true of the education and housing assistance provided by the GI Bill, which played a leading role in establishing the middle class of the Baby Boom years. Of course, African Americans, including black WWII veterans, were largely excluded from such programs. Even today, blacks who earn good income still tend to have a very small amount of wealth. The assets acquired through such New Deal programs have been handed down through the generations to the point where an impoverished white family today still often has more wealth than a black family that earns a middle class income.

Wise finds it interesting that the plaintiffs in the University of Michigan affirmative action case before the Supreme Court only objected to the special points awarded in University admissions processes to students of color. People have ignored the fact that white people also effectively get special preferences in college admissions that have nothing to do with pure and simple academic achievement. For example, applicants from the almost exclusively white working class Upper Peninsula of Michigan are given special points during application reviews (at the University of Michigan). The school gives out other points during admissions processes that also effectively give preference to white kids.

Wise weighs other issues in the book, including the Duke Rape case, Ronald Reagan, the confederate flag, illegal immigration, hate speech codes at universities, and the case of a white girl who was the victim of racial taunts by black people during her childhood. . He attacks Senator Obama, which is interesting in light of his association with the "Progressives for Obama" group. He dismembers the "What About Oprah?" argument that white people often use to counter charges about racism hindering African Americans. He notes that most white people have historically believed, for example according to polls in the early 60's, that African Americans have no less chance than white Americans to be successful in American society. Thus the present day dismissal of black claims of racism by most of white America is nothing new.

Tim Wise, a white southerner, takes on all the shibboleths about race, and jousts with all the chimerical contenders. His insight, and his challenges, will move this country to a better comprehension of SELF and the OTHER, as we wade into the murkiness of race relations today.

This book gets you thinking. My favorite of wise's books because of how many areas it touches on.

I am at a loss for words. This book is so brilliant and accessible. It is divided into thematic chapters that make it incredibly easy to navigate. It will appeal to both intellectuals and "regular people". Wise offers a thorough and insightful treatment of racial politics with an unexpectedly wonderful sense of humor. He is always compelling, always witty and sometimes even prophetic. I can't wait to read his next book, "Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama". The essays in this book should be required reading in every high school and university in the country (possibly even outside of this country so that they'll know we aren't all idiots)!

Tim Wise is a brilliant author, and this is priceless collection of his essays. Informative, Thought provoking, and Fun to read. You will not regret reading this book.

Didn't read the book but I'd like to. I'd like to offer no hard feelings to the author as I really have no idea what his opinions are. I'm going solely off the concept of white anti-racist activist. I'm sick to think that, not only are we(whites) super racist, we're also so convinced of superiority that we've begun fighting on behalf of different races as some sort of righteous thing for us to do. If racism is: a person of any color whom dislikes, distrusts, or conspires against another person specifically because of race, without any respect for them as a human being, then yeah, that person is misguided, uneducated, and should be destroyed. But, if racism is cynicism or disrespect for a person for many reasons, including race, then I think the white people here should not feel the need to stand up for other races, but start realizing the amount of garbage floating around the world; white people included.

Race is an attribute all humans have; all animals are different based on geographic location and breeding combinations. Hating a person for their race is just like hating them because they keep interrupting you, or because they chew with their mouth open, or they keep staring at you, or they are being disrespectful. Every race is racist, and every race has the typical racist stereotype. Though there are so many negative stereotypes for different races (from a white perspective), they are stereotypes because it's a general observation. Think of it like this: A casually dressed black man walking into a gas station and paying for fuel and goods is not the same thing as a thugged out black man walking into a gas station and paying for fuel and goods. The difference is obviously what they are wearing. Onlookers would get a first impression of this man. Every race would be aware of the same stereotypes associated with another, but if the man demonstrated the same amount of confidence, posture, courteous and overall respectful attitude everyone one should have, then the stereotype was false and the black man just became a decent human being going about his business. On the other hand, if he started to exhibit other traits - ones that any race can have, like being a loud mouth, or saying disrespectful things, or being intrusive and offensive, even suspicious behavior - he starts setting off signals in the brains of everyone around and places him into a category of unlikable people. He is unlikable because of more than just his race, but because of his attitude and the impression he gave. How we look is a crucial part of social interaction, and everyone is aware of it. People either A: Know how they are perceived, or B: Don't understand. Assuming that this particular man knew what he was wearing, he knew the impression he would make, regardless of any physical interaction.

My point is that racism is a term which really describes hating on a race of people for typical things those people do that you know you don't like. We all have different ideas of respect and what's right or wrong. It is ridiculous for a white person to be anti-racist - I think that person would actually have no real world experience and be an ultra-mega racist. Racism is also about categorizing humans based off their race. If you eliminated the race category, you would still be able to find the bad people. They are white, black, yellow and brown. They are men and women with certain attitudes, making multiple bad choices, which live certain lives and treat life a certain way. Seriously though, you can't eliminate race without eliminating the history along with it.

Ok, I have to stop because I'm rambling. Let me ask you two more things:
If a white police officer patrolled a particular neighborhood because this officer knows through information and experience that bad things have happened there, is he racist if a majority of that neighborhood is low income families, most of which are a particular race? What if it was a non-white officer? What if data showed that white families in the same area displayed the same lifestyle and opinions?

And, what do you call a person who hates everyone equally, taking race into consideration, but mostly because of their impression and overall attitude? - You call them every normal person on the planet.