Tim Wise's White Like Me

5 Big Picture Sentences
In his book White Like Me, Wise offers a powerful, in-your-face look about the truth of racism in America. The first chapter, Born to Belonging, tells about how whites are “born into an environment where one’s legitimacy is far less likely to be questioned” (x). The next two chapters are about racial privilege and about resistance towards that privilege. The fourth chapter talks about being weary of who you collaborate with. The last two sections are about the cost that whites pay for their racism and about the hope for redemption.

4 Key Passages“The power of resistance is to set an example; not necessarily to change the person with whom you disagree, but to empower the one who is watching and whose growth is not yet complete, whose path is not at all clear, whose direction is still very much up in the proverbial air.” (pg. 74)

“Although white Americans often think we’ve had few first-hand experiences with race – because most of us are so isolated from people of color in our day-to-day lives – the reality is that this isolation is our experience with race.” (pg. viii)

“Being a member of the majority, of the dominant group, allows one to ignore how race shapes one’s life. For us, whiteness simply is; it becomes the unspoken, uninterrogated norm, taken for granted, the way a fish takes water for granted.” (pg. 2-3)

“Today, in the course of my work I meet white teachers much like the ones I had in school – almost all of them nice, decent, underpaid professionals – who say things like, ‘I treat all my kids the same way and don’t even see color when I look at them. This is neither true nor desirable, as their kids in fact do have a race, and their race matters, because it says a lot about the kinds of challenges they are likely to face.” (pg. 16)

3 Key Terms
perspectivism – (page 59) “the elevating of the majority viewpoint to the status of unquestioned and unquestionable truth”

kudzu – (page 82) “a particularly tenacious vine” that is very common in and exclusive to the South; Wise says this is a perfect metaphor for the way that Southerners cover up their crimes

“white blindness” – (page 136) – “the ability of whites to be utterly blind to the fact that indeed we have more than our fair share of criminals, drug addicts,” and other screw-ups

2 Connections
In the chapter about Resistance, Wise spoke about the time in his adolescence when he began to dress, speak, and behave like his African American friends. He describes his teachers’ reaction to this phenomenon, which was mostly dismissing him and deeming him “hopeless.” Wise’s reaction to his teachers’ treatment was to withdraw from school culture. We talked about this in my Educational Psychology course; there are “resistance cultures” whose beliefs, values, and behaviors don’t match up with those of the mainstream culture. For example, an African American teenage boy has to choose between doing well in school, becoming “white,” or withdrawing just like Tim did from schoolwork in order to maintain his culture.

I really loved the quote by Tutu. He said, “You do not do the things you do because others will necessarily join you in the doing of them, nor because they will ultimately prove successful. You do the things you do because the things you are doing are right.” This is so encouraging, because sometimes I get bogged down by the problems that International Justice Mission fights; sex trafficking, poverty, and modern-day slavery aren’t just going to end in the next year. But I don’t do it because sex trafficking is a buzz word right now or because I will be able to see the results of my work; I do it because it is right.

1 Question
What are some practical suggestions for me? How do I fight racism as a student at Baylor?