Tim Wise profile picture

Tim Wise

Hate mail, while neither appreciated nor desired, will be graded for form, content, spelling and gra

About Me



I am an anti-racist educator, essayist and activist, and the author of three books: White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son , Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White , and the newly released essay collection, Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male .
Most of what I know about racism, I learned from people of color: folks in public housing in New Orleans, with whom I had the honor of working for fifteen months as a community organizer and advocate in the mid-90s; writers like James Baldwin, Angela Davis, and Elizabeth 'Betita' Martinez, among many others; and the amazing leadership of the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond.

My Interests

My family, Justice, Equity, connecting with others of like mind

I'd like to meet:

Like-minded persons committed to social justice and anti-racist principles

Music:

Pretty much anything but polka...and I'm sure I'd like polka too, if I just listened to the underground shit, if ya know what I mean.

Books:

Any of James Baldwin's non-fiction. Derrick Jensen's Culture of Make-Believe.

Heroes:

Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, John Brown, all of the folks who worked with SNCC, the Grimke sisters, Anne Braden, Angela Davis, AIM, Dr. King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers

My Blog

New Essay - This is How Fascism Comes: Reflections on the Cost of Silence

This is How Fascism Comes:Reflections on the Cost of SilenceBy Tim WiseOctober 12, 2008For those who have seen the ugliness and heard the vitriol emanating from the mouths of persons attending McCain/...
Posted by Tim Wise on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:39:00 PST

Racism as Reflex: Reflections on Conservative Scapegoating

Here's another one...pass it around!Racism as Reflex: Reflections on Conservative ScapegoatingBy Tim WiseSeptember 28, 2008If hypocrisy were currency, conservatives would be able to single-handedly ba...
Posted by Tim Wise on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:10:00 PST

Boxing Ourselves In: The Sad Irony of White Supremacy

And here's another one...Boxing Ourselves In: The Sad Irony of White SupremacyBy Tim WiseSeptember 21, 2008I guess it would be amusing were it not so sad. After several days of combing through hateful...
Posted by Tim Wise on Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:27:00 PST

Explaining White Privilege to the Deniers and the Haters

Here comes another one...pass it around!timExplaining White Privilege(Or, Your Defense Mechanism is Showing)By Tim WiseSeptember 18, 2008Sigh.I guess I should have expected it, seeing as how it's noth...
Posted by Tim Wise on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 05:39:00 PST

Anti-Intellectualism OK for whites, apparently???

Pass it around...________Reflections on White Anti-Intellectualism(Or, What'cha Want With all That Book Learnin'?)By Tim WiseSeptember 14, 2008To hear an awful lot of white folks tell it, the problem ...
Posted by Tim Wise on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:22:00 PST

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

(NOTE: I added some things to this piece, and made a few changes to other parts for accuracy and clarity. So, if you are going to send the piece around to more people m please send this version if pos...
Posted by Tim Wise on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:19:00 PST

New Book Announcements/Projects

Just a note to make sure everyone knows about my upcoming book releases/projects:In August, Soft Skull will release a collection of my previously published essays, from 2000-2008, entitled Speaking Tr...
Posted by Tim Wise on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:52:00 PST

Essay on Racist Contrast Between Iowa/New Orleans Flood Victims

Ok y'all...here it is: a comprehensive critique of all the B.S. emails going around drawing mean-spirited and racist comparisons between flood victims in the Midwest this week, and those in New Orlean...
Posted by Tim Wise on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:14:00 PST

New Essay on White Women Threatening to Oppose Obama

Here is my latest essay, "Your Whiteness is Showing: An Open Letter to Certain White Women who are Threatening to Withhold Support From Barack Obama in November." I think you can ascertain the content...
Posted by Tim Wise on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:48:00 PST

My DVD and CD have dropped! (OK, always wanted to say that...)

Ok, so I am now moving into the world of merchandise (DVDs and CDs of speeches). As of today, you can get a high-quality DVD of my October, 2007 speech at Mt. Holyoke ("Racism, White Denial and the Co...
Posted by Tim Wise on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:44:00 PST