White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

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If you are tired of all the literature these days exhorting us to “multiculturalism,” then you might be interested in a new book by Tim Wise. White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son is a fabulous collection of essays by a privileged, White guy from the USA. Wise doesn’t play around with all the fashionable “healing racism” workshop approach to challenging White Supremacy, he continues to confront his own privilege and what that means for those of us who care about racial justice.

Wise himself comes out of the 80′s anti-apartheid movement where he became sort of a national figure, but instead of taking advantage of this notoriety he has continued to do the hard work of looking at the layers of White privilege within his own life. Wise tells stories about how he has been challenged at speaking events, by family members, by fellow activists and how this has contributed to the maturing of his own sense of self and this systemic problem we call racism.

Instead of coming across with easy answers to fighting racism, instead of providing us with a simple formula, or even lessons in diversity, Wise takes an honest approach. He never says if we do this we will end racism. In fact, in the end of the book, in the section titled “Redemption,” Wise admits that we will never overcome racism, not entirely. It is a constant struggle, a commitment to never giving up the fight. Wise doesn’t see this as a cause for pessimism, rather a realization that there is “redemption in struggle.” And this redemption he speaks of is not just for ourselves but for those who come after us. As the great Black writer James Baldwin wrote, “One is responsible to life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return. One must negotiate this passage as nobly as possible, for the sake of those who are coming after us.” For anyone who acknowledges the fact that all struggles for justice involve an honest self evaluation, then this book is essential reading.

Tim Wise, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, (Soft Skull Press, 2005).

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Tags: organizing, race, racism