Tim Wise Review

Racism Awareness: A Wise Decision

Tim Wise has been quoted saying, “Racism is an ideology that says certain people, by virtue of their race, are either inferior or superior to others of a different race” (Wise qt. by Cook, 5). Wise has worked as a racial justice activist for many years and is a well renowned author. In a 2009 interview with The Sun, he spoke on how the issues of racism and privilege contribute to the setup of racial boundaries in America today, and how it still affects us.

Ever since Africans and Caucasians have interacted white people have been viewed as the superior race. However incorrect this perspective is people of light skin have been granted more opportunities, which Wise describes as privileges (By the Color). These privileges range from job opportunities to housing loans; in these cases, a person of color may have the same qualifications as a white person, but will not receive the same treatment, only because of their race. For example its known “that job applicants with “white-sounding” names are 50 percent more likely to get called back than those with “black-sounding” names, even if both have the same qualifications” (Cook 6) This fact shows that even today in normal situations racism and white privileges are still prevalent in society.

These issues in America are still present, but harder to target specifically. This is greatly contributed to by white ignorance, meaning that the belief that racism is nonexistent in America, as many would like to believe, only leads to the problem being ignored. Societies in different areas in the United States deal with racism and white privileges in many ways. As Wise described “Southerners know race is an issue, and that’s half the battle.” (Cook 11) This awareness is key to how race is constructed. Areas that are more aware of race and acknowledge it are more likely to eventually resolve or lessen the impact of racism then areas that falsely believe that people are all treated equally.

Hearing of this social inequality only makes us more aware of racism around us. This positively changes our perspective on society and how others are treated. Although we cannot change what has happened in the past, we may be able to prevent it in the future by being more understanding and less judgmental of others. Hopefully, racist tendencies will discontinue in America someday, allowing all a truly equal opportunity to afford better lifestyles—this includes access to healthy foods, and better eating communities, as discussed in paper three.