Customer Reviews

White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

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Although I agree with the vast majority of the posts regarding the quality and insight of Wise's White Like Me, I think that, as a community of readers, teachers, activists and concerned citizens who loathe racial injustice, we must take care not to exalt Wise as THE authority on race and privilege in this country (basing this on another post that used similar language). Many African American scholars and writers - W.E.B. DuBoise, David Walker, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks and Amiri Baraka - have been saying the same thing (from the black perspective) that Wise does in his book, and decades BEFORE Wise did. While I applaud Wise's courage, I think that we shouldn't fall into another white privilege trap, which is to exalt a white person for a revolutionary work on race, when this same type of revolutionary writing was done by people without privilege years ago. I would hate to think that we can only accept admissions of white privilege from whites, when people of color - who have suffered from it - took risks and challenged racism when the topic was far from vogue (dangerous, actually). There are many great thinkers and writers of color out there; read Wise, but supplement your knowledge from those who are survivors, too. Peace to my fellow activists of EVERY hue.

Tim Wise's book, White Like Me, takes a look at racism from the perspective of the whites in the United States. Through his writings, Wise hopes to be able to open the eyes of white people to the privilege that has been bestowed upon them as the dominant racial group in our society. "Being a member of the majority, the dominant group, allows one to ignore how race shapes one's life" (Wise 2). Beginning from this premise, by using examples and stories from his own life, he attempts to show just how privilege has shaped his life and what he has done for the fight against racism.
Privilege, according to Wise, amounts to almost every experience that a white person has within their life. Simple things like whether or not your presence in a certain area will be questioned or larger things such as access to college educations are all related to the color of our skin at birth. People don't automatically assume you are poor or going to steal when you are in a store, they don't cross the street to avoid walking past you, and they don't assume you are selling to drugs to buy your new shoes. This is not exactly the kind of thing that there is a lot of expert research on. All the evidence and claims that Wise make concerning the subject are all related to his personal experiences and his work relating to activism. However, this being the case I feel that he does make a very strong argument; I have been able to relate to what he is saying in many of his stories.
During one such story he recounts that in his youth he would go to underage keg parties and when the cops would come by they would do little except tell them to keep the noise down. There was no doubt as to the fact that kids were drinking and smoking pot, but no one was arrested and no fines were given. During this same time Wise was running a fake ID business for which he never got in trouble when he or anyone else was caught with one. Wise chalks all of this up to the fact that these homes were in white neighborhoods and that the cops weren't out to make trouble for white kids (35-7).
In all the keg parties I have been to, I can say that this definitely rang true for me. I have never seen any one get arrested or even fined at a party in Milwaukee when the cops have shown up. They merely kick everyone out and even that seems like a joke most of the time, people usually just come back within an hour or so.
Considering the state of the country with terrorism and national security, you'd think that law enforcement would take possession of a fake ID very seriously. If a person of Middle Eastern decent was caught with a fake ID, I'm sure they would have had a much harder time than a white person. I have known several white kids to have had their IDs taken away with not so much as even a slap on the wrist. On another note, if you go to almost any of the bars near campus, many of them knowingly let in people with fake IDs, yet nothing is done to stop it. These bars of course are packed to capacity with white kids.
Resistance is where Wise is trying to lead the readers of his book. To resist racism is to act in what he calls an antiracist way. According to Wise, we all have the choice to stand up and confront racism or to back down and say nothing at all (73). This can be hard for some of us who have family and friends whose feelings are really ingrained with a racist way of thinking. Again, Wise uses an example from his life where he stood up to a person he had just met who told a black joke to a room full of white people. Instead of saying nothing to the man, which he feels is worse than saying nothing at all, Wise chose to engage the man into a reflective discussion about just why the joke was wrong.
Wise goes about this subject of resistance in a way that has never been offered as an option to me or anyone I have ever talked to. To stand up and combat racism as opposed to simply ignoring it, telling yourself that you aren't a racist, or even trying not to think racist thoughts is a huge step to take. In effect you are shedding your layer of privilege and opening yourself up to the possibility of rejection or even ridicule. The most I learned from parents and school, as well intentioned as they were, was only that everyone is equal and deserves to be treated fairly. Had this combative attitude been implanted I may have been challenging the system as a younger person. We all might have, it's hard to say how many minds could have been steered away from prejudice.
One of the finer points Wise tries to make in his argument is that as white antiracists, we do not fight racism for black people. We have to fight it because it is evil and we hate it, we do it for ourselves and our community (98). We must however fight to keep resistance in our lives. No matter how hard you fight against racism, it can always rear its head in your life. Since we have been learning it from such an early stage and see it all around us, its almost impossible to completely change your mode of thought. According to Wise, we don't always act in an intellectual way, sometimes we just operate on conditioning. All it takes is a situation to bring to mind a stereotype and you are working against this antiracist mentality (134). Despite the challenges that come with being an antiracist, the work is absolutely necessary. Destroying racism as a goal might never be able to be accomplished, but nothing worth having has ever been easy.

I recently came across two of Tim Wise's books in a local book store - White Like Me and Speaking Treason Fluently. I gave them a quick scan and decided that I wanted to read them both. I work in education and have seen white privilege at work; it's a topic I care about.

As I began this book, White Like Me, I found the reading enjoyable. Even better, I felt my own beliefs about racism and white privilege were being affirmed.

However, I won't be finishing the book or reading anything else by Tim Wise. On two consecutive pages, Wise makes commenst that are racist to the point that he's lost credibility with me. Let me explain.

When explaining why high school debate team is "so white", Wise states (p. 33) "The substance of the arguments made and the way in which the arguments are delivered also tend to appeal to whites far more readily than people of color, for whom the style and substance are often too abstract to be of much practical value." That is a disgusting comment. To generalize that people of color would not be interested in abstract argument because it lacks practical value is incredibly arrogant, demeaning, and racist.

Amazed as I was by that statement, I was willing to overlook it until I read the next page (p.34). Here Wise explains that the entire process of debate is "a white one." He writes, "...whites (and especially affluent ones), much more than folks of color, have the luxury of looking at life or death issues of war, peace, famine, unemployment, or criminal justice as a game, as a mere exercise in intellecutual and rhetorical banter." He then claims that being able to debate a position such as "whether or not full employment is a good idea, presupposes that my folks are not likely out of work as I go about the task." He adds, "To debate whether racial profiling is legitimate likewise presupposes that I, the debater, am not likely to be someone who was confronted..." with racial profiling.

Wise seems to be saying that because of their position in society, people of color are unable to engage in intellectual and rhetorical banter, to take equally either side of a position. He's saying that because they have experienced discrimination, they can not step outside of their own experience to discuss the discrimination from all sides. Again, Wise's arrogance is palpable.

The perfect counterpoint to Wise's claims is the current debate about healt care reform. People of color, some with health insurance and some without, are debating the pros and cons of a government-run health insurance option. They are able to discuss it intellecutally and rhetorically. They are able to look at both sides of the issue. They are able to overcome the multitude of ways in which the health care industry discriminates against them.

Tim Wise is clearly aware of "white privilege" and it's role in the continuing oppression of minorities. But his opinions and perspectives contain the covert and subtle racism that now characterizes much of American thought towards "people of color".

I've seen other reviews stating that all white people should read this book. I think that EVERYONE should read this book. This book addresses race and race relations in a way that is unorthodox, clear and grabs your attention. As a race/ethnicity scholar and teacher, I'm always looking for ways to get my students aware of and concerned about (this is the tough part) racial issues in the US. Most feel and think that it's not a big deal, racism is over, etc. Most students express a "color-blind" attitude. But this attitude is harmful by ignoring institutionalized racism. The issue of white privilege isn't a new one, but Mr. Wise introduces us to some new ways of thinking about it.

There is a lot of material and excellent examples to take from this book, but a few really grabbed me. One is getting at how white privilge operates in everyday life and at the institutional level. The other main and often subtle important aspect is how white privilege is dangerous not only to black people and other minority group members, but to white people as well, on a psychological level. Tim Wise makes his case by appealing to white people on a gut level by appealing to their egos and sense of self without attacking them as "bad people." And I think that blacks and people of other races can benefit by understanding how white privelege often operates unconsciously...We spend most of our lives learning to be racist and it takes a lot to unlearn all that crap. Tim Wise does his best to set us on this path.

I have to agree with a lot of the harsher critics of this book. I am liberal and Wise has some valuable insights for to an audience that hasn't thought much about race. For that, fine. I'm glad he wrote the book.

But the book could have been half this length (and it's not that long). Wise is so self absorbed, he is tedious. Beyond that, he has no insight into the fact that a lot of his privilege derives from being male, as well as white. He'll give examples of "white" privilege that are as much about his gender as his skin color, not to mention matters of class, as others have mentioned. The way he talks about his wife dutifully raising their two children almost by herself while he keeps writing and writing and writing was really hard for me to read. Better he should have taken over the kids for a month and let her finish the book, or, better yet, write her own. I bet she'd have a lot to say. I actually finished the book, just to see where he was going with his ideas, but I was sorry I wasted the time.

Tim Wise's name is well-known and I have read many of his essays over the years. So as I was about to read this book, it's safe to say I had some expectations for it. The verdict: it surpassed them. In the first few pages, the book seems a bit aimless, and at various points in the book his language is a little off-putting (by that, I mean his very free use of words like F-bombs). But after the first few pages, and getting past the occasional language obstacle, he shines with it.

He proves very adept at illustrating how ever-present race is in everyday life, and I don't make this point lightly. I already felt I had a good understanding of this, but some of his examples prove that wrong and show that it's present even in places I didn't think that was the case. He shares stories from his family as well as life outside of home that all drive home his points well.

Most of all, as is the case in his essays, Wise gets real about race as it concerns White people. He pulls no punches, evident in several parts of the book. He makes it clear more than once that merely "being a good person", for lack of a better phrase, will never be enough to make a significant dent in racism. He points out that for White people doing this work, the rewards are not what one might expect - don't expect to be on the cover of a major magazine or the top story on the six o'clock news, and don't expect to be loved by all the way athletes and entertainers are worshiped in America. And he does a great job of showing how racism hurts White people, examples including how privilege can put us in danger or rob us of our self-determination, and in perhaps an extreme example, how it can lead the poorest of Whites to support politicians and policies that don't help them at all but profess to be anti-Black - the latter being the reason they support the politician or policy.

This is a challenging book. It certainly was for me, and I haven't been a passive observer on this subject matter during my life. It made me examine myself and my thoughts on this subject, yet it also in some points affirmed that if nothing else, I may be on the right track, as there were certainly parts I identified with. It's also realistic in that the overall picture it paints is that for many reasons, fighting the rampant White privilege in America is not easy at all.

All in all, this book is well worth reading, especially for a White person who wants to do something positive on race.

I have had two moments in my life over the last few years that have decolonized my thought process. Listening to Calvin Terrell and reading WHITE LIKE ME by Tim Wise. Mr. Terrell introduced me to the book and the rest as they say is history. Mr. Wise takes a complicated issue and brings common sense to the masses. I have never had so many 'light bulb' moments in one sitting. The clarity of this book was refreshing and thought altering. I have read both of Tim's books and I look forward to his next installment.

Disclaimer: I have not read this book. To be fair, I gave this review a three star not to change the rating balance of real reader reviews. I am certain that if I actually read it, it wouldn't be a 3 star.

I have read plenty of the polemics from this author. This guy is a complete charlatan. He is a race hustler the same as Sharpton, Farrakhan, and others. They all make plenty of money with their hustling for themselves and their families.

I guarantee you that Tim is one or all of these things:

- an opportunist, making money off of gullible people by pushing white guilt and hatred of whites
- a jew that has a messiah complex, thinking he can "save the world" for so called minorities, by "cutting down" uppity successful white gentiles. Rabbi Steinsaltz alleged "all jews" are born with this messiah complex of "fixing" or "saving the world". Any human being arrogant enough to think that they can "fix the world" is a megalomaniac.
- a jewish white-gentile hater: like noel ignatiev (jewish) who says that whiteness needs to be erased, susan sontag (jewish) who said that white people are the cancer of the earth (YAY tolerance!), or franz boas (jewish) who made believe that all non-european peoples were pacific, giving, kind, quaint, and had utopian-like societies (hmm, guess he never heard of the aztecs). Or, he is one of the millions of jewish people that seem to blame all white gentiles for what some Nazis did during WWII. Like Emanual Winston (jewish), who wrote in 1998:

"I think, if oil was not underfoot and money to be made in selling weapons, those sensitive, noble Europeans would view Arabs as the English do...wogs or ragheads. As any prostitute can tell you, for a fee they will agree to do anything you want. The Europeans are really a low, immoral people who would sell their mother...and then deliver." and "How easily any sense of humanity of civilization slips away from their face, leaving only the beast. This beast has many faces and names. Sometimes they are called Germans, Poles, Croatians, Ukrainians... While at other times they became the Church, the Red Cross, or Prime Ministers, Kings, Fuhrer. Then, in a quick change, we see some Americans, French, English and, finally, there is the contaminated Jew called the Leftist. It doesn't really matter, this name or that. Underneath there is strand, a bond that society teaches children to hate the "other" - the different ones. These are people of ultimate evil as the beast stays just below the surface, ready to savage, ready to kill the Jew. The planet would be well rid of the European predator. Perhaps we will be fortunate to live in such interesting times (an old Chinese curse), to see the decline and disappearance of the graveyard called Europe." (Hatred of the "other" - clearly, Europeans are the "other" for Emanuel)

Note: Emanual wasn't some obscure jewish bigot writing from his basement. He was a seasoned writer who had his musings published by israeli newspapers and magazines.

Any person that would read the hate-spreading, jealousy-spreading intolerance from ZEIG HEIL WISE has no business claiming to be "progressive", "tolerant", or "fair minded". He spreads poison and envy, and hatred for one group of people. He is monomaniacal in his quest for money and in his zeal for building contempt exclusively for one group of people on earth - white gentiles. He's truly a scary guy. Neither reason, facts, or consistency will get in his way.

Read here to also see Tim Unwise's fallacies about race disproven. He's a fake and an excellent liar. If you read his trash, you should be ashamed:
[...]

When I first opened the cover of White Like Me by Tim Wise, I was quickly captured by the magical combination of stories, soul-baring, and polemic. Then, as I proceeded on through the book, I despaired for a moment that those who need it worst would probably never read it or at least would never read it all. But as I continued, I decided that this is not true, that the ones who need to read this book the most are not necessarily those White people who have already lost their minds to the last stages of the psychosis of racism, but rather those of us who have as yet a shred of sanity that might respond to such a dose of truth. I have more than a hundred books on the socially-constructed political notion of "race." It occurred to me as I read the closing lines of this amazing treatise, that it has now become the cornerstone of my collection. There are only a relative few monumental volumes that stand through history as quintessential statements on human existence during one age or another. One hundred years from now, if we have not obliterated everything on the earth by then, this slim book will stand with those earlier works as the clarian call that led our nation to a new dawn of hope or as the announcement of the beginning of the end. Open up, White People, it's time to take our medicine.

Tim Wise has the rare ability to interrelate his personal experience with the broader scope of the issue of racism. Through this narrative he takes the audience on a journey of self-reflection that anyone can relate to regardless of background or experience base. "White Like Me" is a great autobiography that touches on racism rooted in social behavior.

For those not convinced in about Wise's own experience that racism is a very real and present problem, I recommend without hesitation that his other book, "Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White" be read. Both readings achieve the same end but through different means. For those who appreciate writing, I recommend "White Like Me," but for those who need studies and statistics, I recommend "Affirmative Action."

What Tim Wise presents in his books is parallel to what he's doing in the realm of social science. His activism in an inactive world is something that we should all draw from.