White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise

Author:Tim Wise
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2009-08-19T09:18:00+00:00

Make no mistake, resisting injustice is never easy. Sometimes we don't have the faintest idea where to begin, or how to fight injustice, especially when the source of that injustice is so systemic, so ingrained in the society that its gears, its engine, seem far from our immediate reach. Because resistance is difficult, and because we have so many other day-to-day concerns, many whites who care deeply about issues of racism and inequality will find ourselves paralyzed either by uncertainty, fear, or both; as such, our resistance will be rare, short lived, and often ineffective.

The fear often felt by whites when it comes to speaking out about racism is palpable. It is a fear of alienating family, friends, or colleagues who may not understand why we feel as we do-the fear, as James Baldwin explained, of "being turned away from the welcome table" of white society. Added to that fear is the very real possibility that our acts of resistance or rebellion might not pay off: our activism, or our efforts to educate others about the issues may not change things, and certainly won't do so quickly, given the time frame needed for most social transformations to occur.

Fighting injustice only to see injustice win, again and again, can be frustrating, especially to members of dominant and privileged groups. We, unlike those who have been systemically subordinated, can usually take for granted that our efforts will pay off, because that's how things tend to work when one is a member of a powerful group. So when we put our minds to resisting something like racism, sometimes we have the idea that the job will be no more difficult than anything else to which we might turn our attention, not recognizing how hard it can be to alter a fundamental social relationship that has existed for hundreds of years.

I'll never forget the young white woman I met a few years ago who came up to me after a speech I had given and said how much she appreciated it, and how much she agreed with everything I had said, and then added that she really wanted to "get busy on this racism thing, so I can still have time to save the rainforests before I have to sell out and get a real job."

Putting aside the self-evident absurdity of the sentiment, perhaps the bigger problem is that such a mindset implies that although racism is a problem to be tackled, it is one that is no more difficult to address than any other problem-just one of many areas of interest from which to choose on the cafeteria line we call life. Such a view is profoundly disrespectful of peoples of color, since it implies that although they haven't been able to end racism despite centuries of effort, certainly we as white folks can figure it out in a few years if we just put our minds to it.

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