Talking Points on Tim Wise

Tim Wise " White Swim In Racial Preference"

Premise

• racial preference
• history
• segregation
• privelege
• invisibility
• ignorance
• hard work vs. privelege
• college
• statistics

Argument

Wise argues that white privelge is still present in society and school systems and because the white race is not willing to acknowledge their privelege over blacks then nothing will change.

Evidence

1. "In other words, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that white America is the biggest collective recipient of racial preference in the history of the cosmos. It has skewed our laws, shaped our public policy and helped create the glaring inequalities with which we still live." Wise is saying that because white privlege is very prominent in society it has helped shaped the ways we live our lives and the rules we live by. Because white are given more priveleges then blacks, it the white men and women who had a say in how our government fuctions and what rules it is acceptable to live by. White people shaped what people believe is acceptable and unacceptable because they have more power then black people.
2. "Privilege,to us, is like water to the fish: invisible precisely because we cannt imagine life without it." White people are so used to being privileged that we simply do not even recognize it anymore. An example of this is everyone takes walking for granted but once someone is in an accident and is confined to a wheel chair that is when they recognize that walking was so good. White people rarely ever are put in bad situations that make them recognize and appreciate their race but black people can see the white privilege and they are forced to deal with more inequalities then whites.
3. "White preference remains hidden because it is more subtle." Since the time that African Americans were brought to the colonies in America they were always forced to be considered lower then whites. The african americans were enslaved simply because the Europeans ran out of their own servants and needed some people to complete cheap labor.Now the white people who have privilege do not see that they have privilege but the second a black person is given a better privelge then a white person it becomes a HUGE deal. White people can control black privilege but black people can not control white privilege because it is too powerful.

Comments

I really liked this article because it is very relavent in my life. When Wise began talking about how white people make fun of blacks because it is easier for them to get to college I never really looked at the other side of the picture. Black people have a life that is completely different then whites and getting into college is just one thing out of a billion that is made easier for them. Shamefully, I admit that I used to say rude comments like that about college and admissions but now I completely look at the situation differently. Just because I am white I recieved privileged all my life, black people do not recieve the same privilege and are faced with inequalities every day.