H 32°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°Tim Wise, a prominent anti-racist writer and activist, spoke Tuesday night to University of Wisconsin students and community members at the Memorial Union about the widespread presence of racism in contemporary American society.
Wise said because racism is not a topic white people are forced to consider, only “the wisdom of colored people” makes it possible for a white person to “utter one intelligible syllable on the subject of racism.”
“Every colored person I have ever met in my life has forgotten more than I will ever know about racism,” Wise said.
Wise said tolerance and diversity were popular but meaningless topics, and he would only discuss racism. Wise asked, “Are we in such bad, piss-poor shape” that a speaker has to come to a college to promote tolerance toward minorities?
However, diversity does not have to be promoted or discussed, Wise asserted, because “it is what it is.” Wise said no one can discuss the topic without first considering the question, “Why isn’t diversity here already?” The answer, Wise argued, is racism.
One of the major problems in discussing racism, according to Wise, is the confusion of the definition of racism. Wise said that “overt bigotry [is] not a necessary component” of racism.
Racism refers to the belief in an inherent superiority of a particular race from an ideological perspective, according to Wise. Wise argues racism must also be viewed from a systematic perspective, in which the definition is extended to include any policy, practice or procedure having the effect of furthering or causing inequalities of race.
Wise points to the job market as an example, in which he claims 80 to 90 percent of the jobs in this country are not openly advertised, leading to an “old-boys’ network” which he said predominantly favors white males.
Wise added the education system and its reliance on standardized tests presume the “standardization of access” to the tests’ information. He said standardization does not exist and therefore perpetuates racial inequality.
Wise said he frequently encounters accusations as a strong critic of racism. Wise said others accuse him of “playing the race card” and abusing the “politics of victimology.” Wise countered that people accuse him of this because they do not consider racism a crime.
“Why don’t we look at crime victims and say, ‘Hey, get over it. That happened a long time ago’?” Wise asked.
Wise briefly touched on affirmative action, describing the notion of “reverse” discrimination as “silly” and asserting that the “history of this country has been the history of affirmative action for white people.”
“The lecture was really entertaining, full of facts, and was extremely thought-provoking,” UW freshman Matthew Krejcarek said.
Much of the audience seemed to agree with Krejcarek, as many of Wise’s controversial statements were met with applause.
Wise concluded his lecture by differentiating between guilt and responsibility, comparing the problem of racism to the problem created by a messy roommate. If the people guilty of creating racism are not going to clean up the problem, Wise reasons, then someone else needs to take responsibility.
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Somehow I have the feeling that Mr. Wise looks around all the time and sees racism where it is not there. If he didn’t, he probably couldn’t make as much money off the lecture circuit.
Yes, racism is still a problem in America. It is not, however, anywhere near what it was, and the whole oppressed African American bit is wearing a little thin. As a Jew, to me it is similar to the Jews who use the Holocaust as their argument towards anything that is remotely critical of the Jewish people. It’s become so much rhetoric it has lost any meaning beyond the people who already believe that rhetoric.
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oh lord..here come a flood of stupid ignorant racist comments
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that is right^. because if someone disagrees with you, that means they are racist and ignorant. Don’t bother to engage them on any issues, if they disagree with you they must be racist and ignorant, maybe even evil or like hitler in some way.
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“Racism refers to the belief in an inherent superiority of a particular race from an ideological perspective, according to Wise.”
Is there an “ism” for “the belief in an inherent superiority of a particular religion from an ideological perspective”, according to Wise? That “ism” seems much more of a problem - at least from the death and destruction point of view.
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“Don’t bother to engage them on any issues, if they disagree with you they must be racist and ignorant”
That isn’t really what’s going on here, it’s just that minorities are frustrated because white people truly do not understand what it is like to be oppressed, and consistently try to pretend it doesn’t happen.
And to the Jew above: consider yourself a lucky minority, because most white people in this country can’t tell the difference between a Jew and another white person. You would no doubt have a much different experience if your skin were black, or your eyes slanted. I am white and gay, and I used to feel the same way you did. But after becoming engaged to a person of color my ignorance was quickly challenged. I came to realize that I can walk into a store without anybody questioning me, while my Chicano fiance walks in and employees start following him around because he’s brown and they think he’s going to steal something.
People are that superficial. If all Jews had a Star of David drawn on their heads it would be far easier to identify them, and they would be met with the same obstacles as African Americans.
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Equal opportunity should be provided to all. Equal results can not be obtained by mandate.
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The most hilarious comment outlined in Wise’s speech is the “standarization of access” to information bit. Of course there is no way to achieve this that would ever satisfy this fool (ever heard of a library?), so what would he have us do- assign jobs and college entrance at random?
The most damaging aspect of speeches like Wise’s (as well as some of the comments it has generated on this very page) is the perpetual victim culture. EVERYONE has experienced some sort of discrimination at some point and OF COURSE people of dark skin tones have experienced more. The sad fact is that certain people do have it easier in our country (of course to a far less degree than any other place on the planet) but the appropriate course of action is not to play the victim. Work hard, best your competition, and when you own the business you can hire anybody you damn well please.
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It’s crap that no white person know what it’s like to be oppressed. I happen to be a nerd, and I was tortured and harrased for most of my life. There are ugly people, stupid people, left handed people (their lifespans are about 4 years less than the average, now there’s some oppression). And to marginalize Jews as a minority shows an incredible ignorance of, well, Jews. (Perhaps you should attend “diversity training.”)
Anyway, I was a nerd. Many people hated me for no good reason. I was different. I even understand why people felt as they did. No one helped me. I got over it. It’s not that hard.