Tim Wise on the #ZoWhat!? Show – Ferguson, White Supremacy and Racism in America (12/8/14)
My appearance via Skype on the ZoWhat!? Show, December 8, 2014 to discuss racism and white privilege post-Ferguson…
Archive for 2014
Tim Wise on HuffPost Live w/Marc Lamont Hill – “Ferguson and Beyond” (12/8/14)
Discussion on HuffPost Live, 12/8/14, hosted by Marc Lamont Hill. We discuss the aftermath of the Grand Jury decisions in Ferguson and New York, and next steps for the movement to end racism and police brutality in communities of color Guests: Franchesca Ramsey, Patrisse Cullors, Redditt Hudson and Tim Wise
We Don’t Need Nice, We Need Justice: Racism and the Moral Blindness of White America
This past week, Chris Rock noted in an interview that in his estimation, America is producing the nicest white people in its history. Perhaps. But if so, this only suggests the pitiable limits of niceness and its utter irrelevance for the production of something approaching justice, or for that matter even insight. And if so, […]
Far More Than Anecdote: Quantifying Racism and White Privilege in the Criminal Justice System
“Personal anecdotes don’t prove anything. The justice system isn’t racist. Black people are arrested more often because they commit more crime. Period. End of story.” So read the message in my inbox this morning, sent by someone who had happened across my essay about Ferguson, the grand jury decision in the Darren Wilson case, and […]
Of Gods and Monsters: Valorizing the Rich in a Culture of Cruelty
The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Jeopardizing the Future of America (San Francisco: City Lights, 2015) This section explores the way that many (especially on the right) valorize the wealthy and insist that unlike the poor — the so-called “takers” in society — […]
I Was No Angel Either: Crime, Deviance and White Privilege in America
He was no angel. That’s the refrain, repeated for over two months on social media by defenders of Officer Darren Wilson, convinced that Michael Brown was little more than a violent and dangerous thug, worthy of death that August day in Ferguson. From the beginning, Brown’s strong-arm theft of cigars from a local market was […]
Repetitive Motion Disorder: Black Reality and White Denial in America
I suppose there is no longer much point in debating the facts surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown. First, because Officer Darren Wilson has been cleared by a grand jury, and even the collective brilliance of a thousand bloggers pointing out the glaring inconsistencies in his version of events that August day won’t result in […]
Poverty Denialism in a Culture of Cruelty: Bashing the Poor as Right-Wing Amusement
The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, The Culture of Cruelty: How America’s Elite Demonize the Poor, Valorize the Rich and Jeopardize the Future (San Francisco: City Lights, 2015) This section explores the way that many (especially on the right) downplay or dismiss the problem of poverty and the hardship faced by the […]
Your Bumper Sticker is Not a Philosophy: Reflections on Voting and the Limits of Radical Purity
You hear it often when you reside on the left of the political spectrum in America, especially around election time. Sometimes it’s discussed and debated in whispers, other times in rather bombastic tones. It’s a debate about whether truly progressive folks, let alone radicals, should be willing to vote for clearly compromised Democrats, despite how […]
James Baldwin on The Dick Cavett Show, 1968
A great and brief clip of Baldwin on Dick Cavett, explaining racism to folks who clearly don’t get it. Here, Baldwin explains the irrelevance of whether or not whites are prejudiced against blacks, noting that the real issue is how white institutions treat folks of color, regardless of intent, bigotry or hatred. A lesson worth […]
