Genealogy itself is something of a privilege, coming far more easily to those of us for whom enslavement, conquest, and dispossession of our land has not been our lot.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Ancestry Conquest Family Genealogy Heritage Identity Privilege Psychology Racism Slavery Systemic Racism White Supremacy

Standing still is never an option so long as inequities remain embedded in the very fabric of the culture.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Action Culture Inequities Justice Organizing Racism Standing Still

And let's just be honest, there is no such place called 'justice,' if by that we envision a finish line, or a point at which the battle is won and the need to continue the struggle over with. After all, even when you succeed in obtaining a measure of justice, you're always forced to mobilize to defend that which you've won. There is no looming vacation. But there is redemption in struggle.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Defense Justice Resistance Struggle

And in Elbow Room the cast sings the glories of westward expansion in the United States, which involved the murder of native peoples and the violent conquest of half of Mexico. Among the lines in the song is one that intones, There were plenty of fights / To win land right / But the West was meant to be / It was our Manifest Destiny? Let it suffice to say that happily belting out a tune in which one merrily praises genocide is always easier for those whose ancestors weren't on the receiving end of the deal.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Genocide Kids Myths Racism

The irony of American history is the tendency of good white Americanas to presume racial innocence. Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege.In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise American Culture Black And White Black History George Zimmerman Hypocricy Isms Privilege Race Relations Racism The Oj Simpson Trial Trayvon Martin White Privilege Willful Ignorance

Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege. In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise American Culture Black And White Black History George Zimmerman Hypocricy Privilege Race Relations Racism The Oj Simpson Trial Verdict Trayvon Martin White People White Privilege Willful Ignorance

...After all, acknowledging unfairness then calls decent people forth to correct those injustices. And since most persons are at their core, decent folks, the need to ignore evidence of injustice is powerful: To do otherwise would force whites to either push for change (which they would perceive as against their interests) or live consciously as hypocrites who speak of freedom and opportunity but perpetuate a system of inequality.The irony of American history is the tendency of good white Americanas to presume racial innocence. Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege.In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise American Culture Black And White Black History George Zimmerman Hypocricy Privilege Race Relations Racism Trayvon Martin White Privilege Willful Ignorance

When I got to college, the fake ID thing wasn't that important, since pretty much everyone could get away with drinking in New Orleans. But the drugs, well, that was a different story altogether, because drugs are every bit as illegal in New Orleans as anywhere else--at least, if you're black and poor, and have the misfortune of doing your drugs somewhere other than the dorms at Tulane University. But if you are lucky enough to be living at Tulane, which is a pretty white place, especially contrasted with the city where it's located, which is 65 percent black, then you are absolutely set.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Class College Drinking Drugs New Orleans Privilege Rave Tulane

Our failure as a society to properly acknowledge and confront the psychological, social, and political effects of white privilege has perpetuated racial inequality and race-based political resentments.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Society Political

If we don't figure out a way to create equity, real equity, of opportunity and access, to good schools, housing, health care, and decent paying jobs, we're not going to survive as a productive and healthy society.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Health Opportunity Society

Jesus was not born in a manger in central Pennsylvania. He was a man of color. And the fact that we have represented him for centuries literally as a white man speaks to the entire history of white supremacy.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Man Color Born

Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are literally millions of human beings whose lives have been snuffed out by people who conquered under the banner of a white god.

~ Tim Wise

Tim Wise Reality People Human