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Race is, and always has been, an explosive issue in the United States. In this timely new book, Tim Wise explores how Barack Obamas emergence as a political force is taking the race debate to new levels. According to Wise, for many white people, Obamas rise signifies the end of racism as a pervasive social force; they point to Obama not only as a validation of the American ideology that anyone can make it if they work hard, but also as an example of how institutional barriers against people of color have all but vanished. But is this true? And does a reinforced white belief in color-blind meritocracy potentially make it harder to address ongoing institutional racism? After all, in housing, employment, the justice system, and education, the evidence is clear: white privilege and discrimination against people of color are still operative and actively thwarting opportunities, despite the success of individuals like Obama.

Is black success making it harder for whites to see the problem of racism, thereby further straining race relations, or will it challenge anti-black stereotypes to such an extent that racism will diminish and race relations improve? Will blacks in power continue to be seen as an exception in white eyes? Is Obama acceptable because he seems different from most blacks, who are still viewed too often as the dangerous and inferior other?

"From the Civil Rights struggle, to Dr. King's dream, to Barack Obama's election, Tim Wise provides us with an extremely important and timely analysis of the increasing complexity of race on the American political and social landscape. Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama provides an insightful and much needed lens through which we can begin to navigate this current stage in our ongoing quest for a more inclusive definition of who we are as a nation. It's definitely a book for these times!"Danny Glover

"Tim Wise has looked behind the curtain. In Between Barack and a Hard Place he explores the real issues of race in the Obama campaign and incoming presidency, issues that the mainstream media has chosen to ignore. His book debunks any notion that the United States has entered a post-racial period; instead he identifies the problems that emerge in the context of the victory of a black presidential candidate who chose to run an essentially non-racial campaign. With this book, Wise hits the bull's eye."Bill Fletcher

"Wise outlineshow racism and white privilege have morphed to fit the modern social landscape. In prose that reads like his lightening rod speeches, he draws from a long list of high-profile campaign examples to define what he calls 'Racism 2.0,' a more insidious form of racism that actually allows for and celebrates the achievements of individual people of color because they're seen as the exceptions, not the rules."Jamilah King, Colorlines

"This book makes an intriguing argument and is packed with insight. Wise clearly explains the complexity of institutional racism in contemporary society. He continuously reminds the reader that Obama's victory may signal the entrenchment of a more complicated, subtle, and insidious form of racism. The jury is still out."Jeff Torlina, Multicultural Review

Tim Wise is among the most prominent antiracist writers and activists in the US and has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and MSNBC Live. His previous books include Speaking Treason Fluently and White Like Me.

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Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in ...

Speakers day will culminate with a free public lecture at the Chester Fritz Auditorium at 7 p.m.

Nationally recognized speaker and author Tim Wise has a knack for getting people to open up.

Thats sometimes a tough task when the subject at hand is a controversial one such as race relations and racism.

But Sandra Mitchell, UND associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, hopes a visit by Wise to Grand Forks and the University of North Dakota next week is just the thing to get meaningful discussions going.

The goal of Tim Wise coming to Grand Forks is to help build a climate where people can talk about issues such as race while sharing examples, Mitchell says.

Wises visit is scheduled for Monday, March 7 and will culminate with An Evening with Time Wise campus lecture, titled Colorblind: Whats the big deal about race?, at 7 p.m., in the Chester Fritz Auditorium. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with first come first serve seating. The event is free and open to the public.

But Wises day in Grand Forks will start much earlier on March 7.His visit includes a Grand Forks community leaders roundtable, "Diversity and the Changing Face of Grand Forks," at 8:30 a.m. in the Dakota Harvest Bakery, (downtown GF) 17 N 3rd St. After that, he will talk with Faith-based Community Leaders at 10 a.m. at the Christus Rex Lutheran Campus Ministry, followed by a presentation with Campus Leaders at 2 p.m. in UND Twamley Hall, Room 305.

He will give a talkduring a UND administration breakfast roundtable at 8 a.m. in the Memorial Union. , followed by apresentation for Grand Forks City leaders at 2:30 p.m. in City Hall.

UND and Grand Forks are changing and because of that our community also should know what all that means and different ways that we are a part of change, Mitchell said about Wises message.

Longtime activist

Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spoken in all 50 states, on more than 1,000 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences and to community groups across the nation. In 2010, he was named one of the 25 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World, by Utne Reader.

Wises antiracism work goes back to his days as a college activist in the 1980s, fighting to get rid of apartheid in South Africa. After college, he dove into social justice efforts full-time as Youth Coordinator and Associate Director of the Louisiana Coalition against Racism and Nazism. The goal of the group was to defeat political candidacies of white supremacist and David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader.

He later became New Orleans public housing community organizer, and a policy analyst for a childrens advocacy group focused on preventing economic inequality and poverty. He was an advisor from 1999-2003 at the Fisk University and Relations Institute in Nashville and in the Summer of 2005 he served as an adjunct faculty member at the Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Mass.

Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, conducted training to the medical industry on how to reduce racial inequalities in health care and has trained corporations such as government, military, and law enforcement on ways to break apart racism in their institutions. He also served as a consultant for plaintiffs attorneys in federal discrimination cases in New York and Washington State.

Wise has written seven books, contributed essays to 25 books and is one of several people featured in White Men Challenging Racism: Thirty- Five Personal Stories. He received the 2001 British Diversity Award for best feature on race issues, and his writings have appeared in dozens of popular, professional and scholarly journals.

Wises visit is being sponsored, in part, by the Christus Rex Lutheran Campus Ministry and the UND Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Questions about Tim Wises visit can be directed to 701.777.6654, or at UND.diversity@UND.edu.

Amanda Menzies University & Public Affairs student writer

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Anti-racism speaker Tim Wise to spur meaningful dialogue ...

Tim Wise

Wise in 2011

Timothy Jacob "Tim" Wise (born October 4, 1968) is an American anti-racism activist and writer.[1] Since 1995, he has given speeches at over 600 college campuses across the U.S.[2] He has trained teachers, corporate employees, non-profit organizations and law enforcement officers in methods for addressing and dismantling racism in their institutions.[3]

Wise was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to Michael Julius Wise and LuCinda Anne (ne McLean) Wise. His paternal grandfather was Jewish (of Russian origin), while the rest of his ancestry is northern European, including some Scottish.[4][5] Wise has said that when he was about 12 years old his synagogue was attacked by white supremacists.[6] Wise attended public schools in Nashville, graduating from Hillsboro High School in 1986.[7] In high school he was student body vice-president and a member of one of the top high school debate teams in the United States. Wise attended college at Tulane University in New Orleans and received his B.A. there, with a major in Political Science and a minor in Latin American Studies.[8] While a student, he was a leader in the campus anti-apartheid movement, which sought to force Tulane to divest from companies still doing business with the government of South Africa. His anti-apartheid activism was first brought to national attention in 1988, when South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu announced he would turn down an offer of an honorary degree from Tulane after Wise's group informed him of the school's ongoing investments there.[9]

After graduating in 1990, Wise started his work as an anti-racism activist after receiving training from the New Orleans-based People's Institute for Survival and Beyond. Wise began his anti-racism work first as a youth coordinator, and then associate director, of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, the largest of the various organizations founded for the purpose of defeating political candidate, David Duke, when Duke ran for U.S. Senate and Governor of Louisiana in 1990 and 1991, respectively.[10][11]

After his work campaigning against David Duke, Wise worked for a number of community-based organizations and political groups in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, including the Louisiana Coalition for Tax Justice, the Louisiana Injured Worker's Union and Agenda for Children, where he worked as a policy analyst and community organizer in New Orleans public housing.[citation needed]

In 1995, Wise began lecturing around the country on the issues of racism, criticizing white privilege (his own, included)[1] and proposing his solutions. The following year, he returned to his hometown Nashville, and he continued his work around the US, gaining a national reputation for his work in defense of affirmative action.[12]

From 1999 to 2003, Wise served as an advisor to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute. Wise received the 2002 National Youth Advocacy Coalition's Social Justice Impact Award. He has appeared on numerous radio and television broadcasts, including The Montel Williams Show, Donahue, Paula Zahn NOW, MSNBC Live, and ABC's 20/20, arguing the case for affirmative action and to discuss the issue of white privilege and racism in America.[13]

Wise argues that racism in the United States is institutionalized due to past overt racism (and its ongoing effects) along with current-day discrimination. Although he concedes that personal, overt bias is less common than in the past (or at least less openly articulated), Wise argues that existing institutions continue to foster and perpetuate white privilege, and that subtle, impersonal, and even ostensibly race-neutral policies contribute to racism and racial inequality today.[14]

In multi-racial societies such as the U.S., Wise argues that all people (white or people of color) will have internalized various elements of racist thinking. However just because society has been conditioned this way does not mean that society is committed to racist thinking. Wise argues that members of society can challenge this conditioning and be taught to believe in equality.[15]

In 2010, Utne Reader magazine listed Wise as one of the "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World."[16]

In 2013, Wise posted a rant on his Facebook page describing the hate mail and death threats he receives, and addressing the people who troll his site. Many commenters criticized the rant as reflecting white privilege, and questioned his role in the discussion of race in the United States. One commenter found Wise's remarks demeaning to anti-racist work done by people of color.[17] Two others compared Wise to Hugo Schwyzer, who was famous in feminist circles but later exposed for misogynistic attitudes.[17] Wise posted a response on Facebook saying in part, "I won't try and defend the tone of most of my remarks. It was inappropriate. Period. [...] I fell into the same kind of vitriolic and sometimes personal attack mode that had gotten me angry in the first place. I shouldn't have. I will strive to do better."[17]

Wise starred in a 2013 documentary entitled White Like Me.[18]

After living in New Orleans for ten years, Wise relocated to his native Nashville[19] in 1996. In 1998, he married Kristy Cason. Together they have two daughters,[19] Ashton (b. 2001) and Rachel (b. 2003). Wise has referred to himself as Jewish[6] and as an anti-Zionist Jew[20] but does not practice Judaism.[21]

In addition to books and essays Wise has produced a DVD titled On White Privilege: Racism, White Denial & the Costs of Inequality and a double-CD entitled The Audacity of Truth: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama.[2]

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Tim Wise - Wikipedia

So Donald Trump wants to bring "stop-and-frisk," which he claims worked "fantastically" in NYC, to the entire nation...and this, as part of his black outreach initiative...aside from the bizarre tone-deafness, there are some things we should remember about Stop-and-frisk, which he conveniently ignores, all of which information is readily available from the court documents in the case;

1. From 2004-2012 there were 4.4 million stops, 2.3 million of which were followed up by a f...risk.

2. In fewer than 1.5% of frisks was a weapon found (one of the key rationales given for the program).

3. This means that in only about 0.7% of stops did the person stopped have a weapon.

4. Of these weapons (about 34,000 in all), only 4500 were guns. Thus, guns were found in only 0.1% of all stops.

5. Only 1.1% of stops resulted in other contraband like drugs being found

6. Overall, only 12 percent of persons stopped even received a summons/citation, let alone an arrest for some criminal offense. So 88 percent of persons stopped were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

7. Even those summonsed were mostly given citations for public alcohol consumption or disorderly conduct.

8. Nearly half of these summonses were ultimately dismissed or adjourned without findings of guilt (i.e., they were some bullshit -- technical legal term)

9. 83% of all persons stopped were black or Latino

10. This disparity existed even though whites, when stopped, were actually slightly more likely to have drugs or guns on them than people of color.

11. Only about 15% of stops were the result of police investigating specific violent crimes. Most were for subjective causes like "furtive movements" or even simply because the persons stopped "lived in a high crime area."

12. The disproportionate stops of people of color were NOT justified by crime rate differences in the city. In fact, the racial composition of a precinct was a better predictor of who would be stopped than the crime rates in that precinct. According to the judge who found the practice unconstitutional:

blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be stopped than whites within precincts and census tracts, even after controlling for the racial composition, crime rate, patrol strength, and various socioeconomic characteristics of the precincts or census tracts where the stops take place.

13. The NYPD admitted it's purpose was to intimidate people of color. When a former member of the NYPD, and later a state senator, challenged Police Commissioner Kelly on the policy, he was told that the NYPD focused on young blacks and Latinos because he wanted to instill fear in them, every time they leave their home, they could be stopped by the police.

THIS is what Donald Trump supports. Unconstitutional, police-state tactics against people of color in the name of crime control.

Yes sweetheart, that's racist...

Originally posted here:
Tim Wise | Facebook

Tim Wise is one of the great public moralists in America today. In his bracing new book, Under the Affluence, he brilliantly engages the roots and ramifications of radical inequality in our nation, carefully detailing the heartless war against the poor and the swooning addiction to the rich that exposes the moral sickness at the heart of our culture. Wises stirring analysis of our predicament is more than a disinterested social scientific treatise; this book is a valiant call to arms against the vicious practices that undermine the best of the American ideals we claim to cherish. Under the Affluence is vintage Tim Wise: smart, sophisticated, conscientious, and righteously indignant at the betrayal of millions of citizens upon whose backs the American Dream rests. This searing testimony for the most vulnerable in our nation is also a courageous cry for justice that we must all heed. Michael Eric Dyson, author of The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America

Tim Wise is one of Americas most prolific public intellectuals. His critically acclaimed books, high-profile media interviews, and year-round speaking schedule have established him as an invaluable voice in any discussion on issues of race and multicultural democracy.

In Under the Affluence, Wise discusses a related issue: economic inequality and the demonization of those in need. He reminds us that there was a time when the hardship of fellow Americans stirred feelings of sympathy, solidarity for struggling families, and support for policies and programs meant to alleviate poverty. Today, however, mainstream discourse blames people with low income for their own situation, and the notion of an intractable culture of poverty has pushed our country in an especially ugly direction.

Tim Wise argues that far from any culture of poverty, it is the culture of predatory affluence that deserves the blame for Americas simmering economic and social crises. He documents the increasing contempt for the nations poor, and reveals the forces at work to create and perpetuate it. With clarity, passion and eloquence, he demonstrates how Americas myth of personal entitlement based on merit is inextricably linked to pernicious racial bigotry, and he points the way to greater compassion, fairness, and economic justice.

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Tim Wise Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising ...