Whites Swim in Racial Preference
By Tim Wise

Premise:

§ Race
§ Whiteness
§ People of color
§ Power
§ Inequalities
§ Racial preference
§ Rights
§ Privileges
§ Lack of privileges
§ Laws
§ Families
§ Fair vs. unfair
§ Opportunities
§ Change


Argument:

Wise argues that “it is hardly an exaggeration to say that white America is the biggest collective recipient of racial preference in the history of the cosmos. It has skewed our laws, shaped our public policy and helped create the glaring inequalities with which we still live.” and we don’t even realize it.


Evidence

1.“White families, on average, have a net worth that is 11 times the net worth of black families, according to a recent study; and this gap remains substantial even when only comparing families of like size, composition, education and income status.”

2. “Yet few whites have ever thought of our position as resulting from racial preferences. Indeed, we pride ourselves on our hard work and ambition, as if somehow we invented the concepts. As if we have worked harder than the folks who were forced to pick cotton and build levies for free; harder than the Latino immigrants who spend 10 hours a day in fields picking strawberries or tomatoes; harder than the (mostly) women of color who clean hotel rooms or change bedpans in hospitals, or the (mostly) men of color who collect our garbage.” I think this quote is really powerful I never think of these jobs as racial but when you really think about it you never see a white individual doing the “dirty jobs” unless they are truly forced too. And the sad part is that many of these indivuals aren’t even getting the pay rate that they deserve.

3.” We strike the pose of self-sufficiency while ignoring the advantages we have been afforded in every realm of activity: housing, education, employment, criminal justice, politics, banking and business. We ignore the fact that at most every turn, our hard work has been met with access to an opportunity structure to which millions of others have been denied similar access. Privilege, to us, is like water to the fish: invisible precisely because we cannot imagine life without it.”


Points to share:

I think this peace is an incredibly eye opening read, it was very straight forward and presented many facts very frankly think as a white individual I do take many of these things for granted and personally I really have never thought about them. This class has opened up my eyes to the struggles that all races have to deal with on a daily bases. And I am really glad that I am not so oblivious to them anymore.