Ursinus Bonner Blog

The clip on Tim Wise’s speech sounded almost exactly like my history course last semester ( Modern American 214,in case any one is interested in white privilege more than what was described by Tim). I thought it was interesting that he termed privilege to be beneficial but yet dangerous. I think everyone can agree with that statement, especially for those of us whom are White.It’s quite clear to most individuals but even more so by those who do not attain white privilege that we are oblivious to reality, how we truly act, and how we benefit. I also enjoyed his clarification about what he meant by white privilege, being of a psychological/social aspect rather than materialistic. (Most often some people of privilege believe that they do not attain this idea of privilege because they had a rough up bringing, had a poor education, was in a dysfunctional family, and etc.) White privilege has allowed us to think that we were not responsible for the people who suffer due to it; it simply isn’t our problem (mindset of many). I guess the final thing I’d like to note on that Tim had mentioned in his speech was that he speaks about white privilege and expresses the issue aloud not for blame or shame but for understanding the division. I think that’s the most important thing. It’s not about feeling guilty or looking for a scapegoat to blame the problem on, it’s about recognizing the problem is there.

I can only imagine what it would have been like to see Wise speak in person. After watching the clip I can see that Wise spends a lot of time making sure that he is saying things in a way that will get people to look deeper into how they act and not simply turning them away. His objective is not to upset people but rather make them think. What Wise said about President Obama and minorities being viewed as a group was very interesting to me. I’d heard it before but I feel he expressed very well. For whites there is no stereotype that they need to rise above or could potentially fall below but for minorities that is exactly the case. In getting ready to take the LSAT I have been thinking about the score I may get and what it would look like to law schools. I have been thinking, “I hope I can get X score so that I’m viewed as an intelligent black male and not someone less than I think I am.” It is a difficult test but nevertheless I am nervous about the outcome and how it will be seen by someone on the outside. I can’t imagine not having to think about details like that. That, to me, hit home about what white privilege can mean.

I completely agree with you Danel. That was definitely my favorite part. I thought it was a great way of showing that even though Whites in this generation did not directly contribute to slavery and segregation it remains a problem that needs to be resolved. This means that not only Whites but also those of all races should do everything in their power to eliminate the systemic and cultural racism that still exists for the good of our society.

I really liked how he spoke and I thought he made what can sometimes be an awkward situation, a comfortable yet informative lecture. I really liked the way he spoke and instead of blaming specific large groups of people, he motivated everyone to get up and do something!

I enjoyed his speech online on “White Privilege” because he brought up the fact that black people are more likely to be stopped for drugs while white people are more likely to have drugs but not be stopped. Also he said how if Obama mispronounced as many words as Bush did, it would have been taken as a group flaw instead of just one white person.
“There is no stereotype for white male intelligence” is true! There is no group flaw for white males in testing situations.
White people really haven’t had to worry about racial problems. We don’t have to think about it because we don’t have to go through it. This is true but so wrong! We have to treat everyone equally and that only starts with stepping into other races’ shoes. We think that our story is the dominant story and we don’t have to think about the other stories that make up our history. It’s sad, but I believe we can change it! Doing Big Things

I’m so glad that I was able to go to Tim Wise’s lecture! I think he is a wonderful speaker with so much passion and is really capable of drawing in the crowd. He uses wit and clever remarks to draw in the crowd, all the while maintaining a serious attitude about race in this country. I think it’s so empowering that as a white male is able to call out on his own race and show what so many people are doing wrong. It really got me thinking how privileged I am and how in some ways may take for granted the life that I have. Finally, I think it’s important that he stated that he is not blaming white citizens of this problem, it is our responsibility as citizens (no matter what our race is) that we help out and try to end racial discrimination.
Codey: I love everything that you wrote! I agree 100%

Race is a social construct that divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance or skin color, ancestral heritage, cultural association, cultural history, and ethnic classification. Race also divides people by the social, economic and political needs of a society at any given point in time.

Racism is based on two main premises: people can be divided into separate biological groups and some of these groups are morally subordinate to others.

I have never read a book, an article, or even a tweet authored by Tim Wise. I’d heard of him in conversation, and I always told myself, “I’ll get around to reading his book White Like Me.” I was not expecting what I heard and saw at Westchester during his presentation.

His words flowed; he was comfortable. Tim Wise owned the stage like a comedian-the only difference being that he was speaking about something with this sign “no-no this doesn’t exist in our country” spray painted all over. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. He began saying that white people don’t want to talk about race and racism because of the fear of saying the wrong thing and being called racist. He added on that black people don’t bring up race because bringing up the topic allows for a sense of vulnerability and a risk of feeling diminished. The Wise man was correct. Every time I try to have a conversation about race and racism, people try to shy away or walk on eggshells over the topic.

Tim Wise emphasized that “whiteness” was an ideology and an institution that reproduces whiteness as domination. He brought in an anecdote from when he was living with nine other people in New Orleans. The comparison between the vile, decaying, rotting pot of gumbo to racism in the United states was brilliant. The outcome of the comparison was that it doesn’t matter if you are the author/creator of the unpleasantness. It matters if you are tired of living in the “funk.” If you are tired of living in the residue of others. If you want to improve the situation. You need to take matters into your own hands.

First of all, the analogy of the nasty gumbo to racism was on point. Who the hell wants to deal with racism today? People are to scared to even look into themselves and see all of the prejudices they make on a daily basis. Too scared to analyze all of the comments, all of the remarks, all of the ideas we have about people of different races. People are to scared to discover that they themselves are racist. When President Obama stated at the democratic convention that we are the United States of America, and not a cooperative of hundred of races and ethnicities, America took a step back. Of course, people think it’s all good.

I know for a fact that everything Tim Wise spoke about was on point. When talking about racism to my friends of mixed races, they always tell me how difficult it is for them to accept themselves. They have to go every day thinking about what other people think of them. There in a place of in-between. People expect them to take sides and because of their mixed races, they are treated differently by other people. I think it’s disgusting and unjust that people have to go through this. It hurts me personally that we cant speak about race at Ursinus and between people of different races. There’s so much I wish for, so much I wish I understood.

I know my vision of the world is limited to my experiences but part of being human is being able to understand. I understand that perception is shaped by identity and I really wish that people would question the lenses they peek out of more often.

I definitely agree, Daria. I can understand that it can be difficult for a white person to acknowledge that they have some unfair privilege without their doing anything to gain or encourage it. However, it is angering that people are able and willing to deny it when they are very much aware of it. For example, in my Religious and Civil Rights class last semester, we read the older book Killers of the Dream, where there was very good example of this.

A young women attends a program led by the writer which raises her awareness of the injustices faced by black people specifically (even worse at the time) and has her realize that black people are not inherently inferior. After all this- instead of wanting to change things or help, she tells the writer that she will live her life as if she had never learned what she did, because it is too much for her. She even says she will have a family, and she will continue to pass on the ideas on race she was taught and in effect continue to propagate the system.

This was very angering because there is such a difference one person can make, and because it was so unfair of her to wash her hands of the issue. Honestly, if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It is sickening to me that she could voluntarily, intentionally choose to do nothing when she knew it was wrong.

It did not seem to matter to her that the injustice that it was ”unbearable” for her to know of and feel she had some blame in was much more unbearable for the people living it.

It is referring to see (at least in video : P ) Tim Wise speak so mostly because, as many people said, he is white. While I have been fortunate in knowing many amazing white people who acknowledged and worked against white privilege, I feel like that happens much less here. So many people choose to deny and be angry at the very idea that they have privilege without their doing anything. Even if they acknowledge it, they don’t understand that to simply do so without action is also to continue it…. Neutrality isn’t possible.

Though I did not get to go to the lecture, I found the online video to be an engaging look at white privilege. It is a topic that has come up in my classes before and something that we have talked about in Bonner class last year, though Tim Wise was particularly good at presenting the subject in an academic yet very engaging manner. It is a difficult subject to discuss; last year after talking about it in Bonner class I had a discussion with my brother about white privilege and was met with some resistance. To make a white person understand the concept of white privilege is difficult because of the nature of privilege. White people do not generally see the privilege; they tend to see their situation as normative and don’t understand the disparities that exist because many are not exposed to them. In this way Tim Wise was particularly powerful. To see a white male with such a deep understanding of the issue of privilege and be able to dissect it in such an engaging way is rare. The manner in which he approached the subject was also powerful. Rather than throwing blame around he attempted to motivate and inspire people to work together to destroy the systematic and institutional bias and racism which is so prevalent in our culture.
Paige, I agree with you that the points about Obama are interesting. In the 2008 election we saw very clear evidence of the white privilege that exists in this country. Everything that Obama did was in part evaluated based on his race, which was not the case with the other candidates. Look at Sarah Palin for example: she had a daughter who got knocked up and a husband who for years was affiliated with a political party whose aim was secession. For them, these were personal matters of course. If Barack Obama had an unmarried pregnant daughter and his wife was a speaker at an Alaskan Independence Party convention, I STRONGLY doubt that news anchors and political commentators would have given these issues the same treatment.