Talking Points "Whites Swim in Racial Preference"

• Author: Tim Wise

• Title: “Whites Swim in Racial Preference”

• Argument: Wise argues that the main problem of racism is that we are hesitant to admit that it exists because when you are part of the dominant group you are among allies and you do not see the injustices or privileges. This has huge connections to Kozol because it is about seeing what is around us, but not really seeing it until we are forced to look at it. That there are privileges that are being given to whites, maybe not directly because they are white, but in a way that, consciously or not, favors those that are white.

• Quote #1: “Whites are currently in the process of inheriting $7-10 trillion in assets from their parents and grandparents (at a time when people of color’s parents and grandparents couldn’t have done the same)”. People gain a lot of property, money, and support, even culture, from the status of their parents, which HEVILY favors the white population that has overwhelmingly held that property and made more money for generations before. For underprivileged groups to defeat and overcome their status and “move up” in society is hard enough with the roadblocks and prejudice already, but to make their fight all the harder they are, more of then not, born into a “lower ranking in society” to begin with.

• Quote #2: “So even the truly talented students of color will be unable to access those extra points simply because of where they live.” This gives direct reference to the fact that race and location are completely intertwined. Look at rural/urban areas. At rural schools you see a disproportionate amount of white kids, while when someone says “inner-city” you think of students of color predominantly. So if you make something available to students only in rural areas, you are subconsciously favoring those white students. This is exactly what defines the article- that you don’t have to think “how can I disadvantage the kids of color” but you can still disadvantage them simply by favoring a place or a thing (such as test scores) that tend to be intertwined with race, and favoring those of the white appearance.

• Quote #3: “but it also presumes ‘that if these whites were black, their life would have remained the same’.” I completely agree that people tend to jump to the conclusion that they could change their identity and still have the same privileges, which isn’t the case. As we saw in a previous reading, when people so much as saw a name that reminded them of a person of color they would automatically discriminate against it. Where you live, where you go to high school, how much attention you get in class, whether your hyperactivity is treated with ADD meds or by sending you to the office or by simply ignoring you, all could be serious indicators of where you end up and what your potential is to even be looking at colleges, never mind which will consider you a good enough applicant to accept you. You life is seriously changed by a change in any part of your inclusion (or not) into the culture of power.

• My Response: I love the quote reference to how fish don’t know the name of the water they swim in because they take it for granted. Likewise, we don’t know the privileges we posses. Seeing Tim Wise talking about the election really resonated with me. It’s so true that just because one Man of color “made it” to presidency doesn’t mean that we have racial equality in the world. Just because a woman was in the running doesn’t mean the two dominant genders are equal. The world, and our country heavily included, has a long way to go before the culture of power realizes the power it holds, and longer still before we can work to equalize it. It wont happen overnight, but being aware of it and passing that awareness onto others seems to be a clear first step in the journey.