Tim Wise is a race-relations "essayist, author, and educator," as described by his website. I saw him speak at Baylor and I have one of his books, White Like Me. I'm only about halfway through (school prevented me from reading more than a few pages at a time), but I really like his smarmy style and he gives me a lot to think about. Sometimes, he writes something so presumptuous, so "race-card" sounding, that it gives me pause, even with my aspirations to educate myself about race in America. Invariably, I stop and ask myself if my doubt is just another product of having grown up without the burden of systemic discrimination. Sometimes I remain skeptical, but it's a good thought exercise and I still love reading what he has to say on history and current events.
He wrote a piece on Donald Trump's racism that I wanted to invite you guys to read.
By the way, Tim Wise is white. Several times, I have found myself wondering why he has resonated with me more than minority individuals who speak or write on racism. Maybe I relate to his perspective more than to someone who has suffered from lack of white privilege. Maybe it was serendipity; Baylor didn't invite a speaker of color to give the keynote address at the Multicultural Summit. Hmm, I wonder why. Maybe, no matter how articulate and credible a minority speaker is, a white guy will still sound more credible--to a campus of Baylor students, to the Baylor administrator who wrote the check to pay Tim Wise, or to a half-white woman who has absorbed society's messages about race and is only now starting to question them.
(Note to self: find writers from other cultural perspectives who write about race in an engaging, educational way. Note to others: maybe the Baylor audience that day was representative of the diversity of our country; maybe the person who wrote the check is a minority; maybe Tim Wise's race played no part in making it "easier" for me to believe his message. But if I had to put money on it, I would guess not.)
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