Tim Wise said this quote

“ ...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. ”

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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