get to know Tim Wise

If you aren’t yet familiar with the anti-racist work of Tim Wise, I hope you’ll watch this video and/or spend some time on his blog.  I was watching Book TV this weekend and caught the Q&A that followed Tim’s reading of his latest book, Color Blind.  When he came to my school a few years back, I agreed to cancel my class so that my students could attend his talk.  But I didn’t go—“This is work white folks need to do on their own,” I reasoned.  I should have gone…All anti-racist activists of color know that we can talk/scream/plead ’til we’re blue in the face, but a white audience is more likely to listen to someone white saying the exact same thing.  I like that Tim Wise acknowledges that unfair fact…he’s got a lot of guts, continuously speaking out against white privilege, but he also admits there’s less for him to lose, personally and professionally.  His maleness and whiteness protect him, and that became a sort of jumping off point for my Book Smugglers guest post.  Tim Wise gives talks at churches and colleges, and he trains teachers as well—do consider inviting him if you can…if not, get one or all of his books!