Fundie Christians are an interesting bunch. On the one hand, they profess to love God “with all their heart,” and yet, on the other, they regularly send around unhinged e-mails about how God causes natural disasters or other tragedies as a way to punish the U.S. for abortion, or “taking prayer out of schools,” or […]
Tim Wise – opening statement in defense of affirmative action, IQ-squared debate, NYC, November 2007
Dear Mayor McMillin, I hear that you’re angry. Me too. But it appears our outrage is directed at decidedly different targets. I, for one, am angry at the three young white men in your town who, last year, hung nooses from a tree after a black student dared sit under it, thereby touching off several […]
When it gets down to it, most opposition to immigration has nothing to do with the legality or illegality of those entering the United States. After all, if obeying the law were the real issue, there would be a simple way to satisfy those who claim they only want to make sure immigration is done […]
Conservatives love to parade as the apostles of personal responsibility. Whenever the issues of poverty, racism, or crime come up, for example, those on the right are quick to demand “personal responsibility” from the poor, from people of color, or from criminals. If you’re struggling economically, don’t blame the system: just work harder. If you […]
The electronic messages I receive from overt racists would be hilarious were they not so sad, so indicative of an inability to do basic research, interpret data once discovered and then fashion an intelligible argument. That the American educational system is failing may be a matter for open debate, but on this score–its success or […]
Sometimes you just have to ask, “What the f*&% is wrong with you?” I’ve been asking this question a lot lately, given the almost monthly reports that white college students at one or another campus have yet again displayed a form of racist ignorance so stupefying as to boggle the imagination. For some, it means […]
Published in Black Agenda Report, June 13, 2007 Within a matter of several weeks, it is a virtual certainty that Barry Bonds will become the all-time home run king of Major League Baseball. When this moment arrives, survey data suggests that the majority of white baseball fans will yell and scream at their televisions and […]
“So now what do you have to say, smartass?” I can think of better ways to be greeted in the morning, but sadly, this was how my day began a few weeks ago, upon opening my e-mail browser and piecing through the messages that had accumulated overnight. The author of the above missive was wanting […]
“The price the white American paid for his ticket was to become white…This incredibly limited, not to say dimwitted ambition has choked many a human being to death here: and this, I contend, is because the white American has never accepted the real reasons for his journey. I know very well that my ancestors had […]
