Description
Book SynopsisEssays on racial flashpoints, white denial, violence, and the manipulation of fears in America today.
Trade ReviewPraise for Tim Wise's Dispatches from the Race War
"The volume appears at a post-Trump time when it may actually be possible to begin redressing centuries of legitimate Black grievances. It behooves the serious attention of anyone, of any racial or ethnic background, for whom fighting racism is a top personal and political priority."—Paul Von Blum, ScheerPost
"Through clear examples, inscrutable logic, and the power of direct language, Wise challenges White Americans to identify and understand the racism inscribed in the very American project and in the everyday acts of 'being American.'"—Romi Mahajan, Countercurrents
" . . . shares some of the clearest, most honest thinking about racism, inequality, and white privilege that you are ever likely to hear from a white man. 'Can we just put aside all the rationalizations and deflections to which we reflexively pivot and instead imagine what it must feel like to walk through life having to always think about how to behave so as not to scare white people, or so as not to trigger our contempt?’ he asks."—Joseph Barbato, NY Journal of Books
Praise for Tim Wise
"Tim Wise is a vanilla brother in the tradition of John Brown . . . "—Cornel West
"One of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation. He is a national treasure."—Michael Eric Dyson
"(Wise's) work is revolutionary, and those who react negatively are simply afraid of hearing the truth . . . "—Robin D.G. Kelley, Professor of History, University of Southern California
"Tim Wise is one of the few people, along with perhaps Frederick Douglass, who has ever really spoken honestly and forcefully to white people about themselves . . . "—Charles Ogletree, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
"The fate of this country depends on whites like yourself speaking the truth to those who don’t want to hear it. In this, you are as one with the Biblical prophets. You are more likely to be condemned than lauded, and yet your words are no less important. So, keep speaking out. At the very least, some future archeologists sifting through the ashes of this civilization may be able to find evidence that there were some who offered truth as a cure for the disease that destroyed us."—Derrick Bell, Professor of Law, New York University
"(His) is the clearest thinking on race I’ve seen in a long while written by a white writer . . . right up there with the likes of historians Howard Zinn and Herb Aptheker as far as I’m concerned."—Dr. Joyce King, Benjamin Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership, Georgia State University
"Sparing neither family nor self . . . he considers how the deck has always been stacked in his and other white people's favor . . . His candor is invigorating."—Publishers Weekly
Table of ContentsDispatches from the Race War: Table of Contents
Preface: Racism and Inequality in a Time of Illness and Uprising
Introduction: America’s Longest War
I. POST-RACIAL BLUES: RACE AND REALITY IN THE OBAMA YEARS
Good, Now Back to Work: The meaning (and limits) of the Obama victory
Denial is a River Wider than the Charles: Implicit bias and the burden of blackness in the age of Obama
Harpooning the Great White Wail: Reflections on racism and right-wing buffoonery
Imagine for a Moment: Protest, privilege, and the power of whiteness
If it Walks Like a Duck and Talks Like a Duck: Racism and the death of respectable conservatism
Bullying Pulpit: The problematic politics of personal responsibility
No Innocence Left to Kill:Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and coming of age in an unjust nation
Killing One Monster, Unleashing Another: Reflections on revenge and revelry in America
You Will Know Them by the Eyes of Their Whites: Ferguson and white denial
II. TRUMPISM AND THE POLITICS OF PREJUDICE
Discovering the Light in Darkness: Donald Trump and the future of America
Reeking City on a Dung Heap: The dangerous worldview of Donald Trump
Patriotism Is for Black People: Colin Kaepernick and the politics of protest
If It’s a Civil War, Pick a Side: Charlottesville and the meaning of Trumpism
Making a Murderer (Politically Profitable): Immigration and hysteria in Trumplandia
Racist Is too Mild a Term: The President is a white nationalist
The Face of American Terrorism Is White
Weaponized Nostalgia: The evil genius of Donald Trump
III. 2020 VISION—AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS?
Americanism is a Pandemic’s BFF: Why the U.S. has been so vulnerable to COVID-19
It’s Not a Death Cult, It’s a Mass Murder Movement: The homicidal indifference of MAGA nation
Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud: COVID and Trumpism reveal America’s true virus
Bad Will Hunting: The killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the rituals of white supremacy
This Bias is Not Implicit: The problem isn’t fear, it’s contempt for black humanity
It’s not the Apples, It’s the Orchard: Police violence is neither new nor rare
Violence Never Works? America Would Beg to Differ
Nobody’s Perfect—So Why Do We Need Black People to Be? Demanding angelic victims of police violence is absurd
IV. CONFRONTING WHITE DENIAL, DEFLECTION, AND FRAGILITY
White Denial Is as American as Apple Pie
What, Me Racist? Understanding why your intentions are not the point
Weaponizing Appalachia: Race, class and the art of white deflection
Chicago Is Not a Punch Line (or an Alibi): White deflection and black-on-black crime
Identity Politics Are Not the Problem, Identity-Based Oppression Is
Farrakhan Is Not the Problem: Exploring the appeal of white America’s bogeyman
You May Not Be Racist but Your Ideology Is: Why modern conservatism is racist
Who’s the Snowflake Now? White fragility in a time of turmoil
V. MIS-REMEMBER WHEN: RACE AND AMERICAN AMNESIA
Dream Interrupted: The sanitizing of Martin Luther King Jr.
Holocaust Denial, American-Style
History, Memory, and the Implicit Racism of Right-Wing Moralizing
Europe Didn’t Send Their Best Either: Immigration and the lies we tell about America (and ourselves)
Racism Is Evil but Not Un-American
MAGA Is a Slur and Your Hat Is Hateful
Statues Make Good Rubble: An open letter to my fellow Southerners
VI. ARMED WITH A LOADED FOOTNOTE: DEBUNKING THE RIGHT
Cheap White Whine: Debunking reverse discrimination and white victimhood
Rationalizing Unequal Policing: Exposing the right’s war on justice
Hey Conservatives, Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings Either: Debunking the lie of welfare dependence
Baby Mama Drama: Debunking the Black Out-of-Wedlock Birth Rate Crisis
Debunking the Model Minority Myth: Using Asian Americans as pawns in a white game
Intelligence and Its Discontents: Debunking IQ and the absurdity of race science
Nazis Make Lousy Researchers: Debunking the myth of Jewish power
VII. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Not Ready to Make Nice: The fallacy of outreach and understanding
Checking Privilege (While Not Being an Asshole)
Spreading Solidarity in Pandemic Times
Coalition building in a post-corona America
“Listen to Black People” is Completely Correct and Entirely Insufficient: Amplifying Black voices does not mean refusing to use our own
Taking Personal Responsibility Seriously: Rejecting white saviorism and embracing allyship
Forget STEM, We Need MESH: Civics education and the future of America
Who’s Afraid of De-Policing? Why a radical sounding idea isn’t as crazy as you think
Hope Is a Noun, Justice Is a Verb, and Nouns are Not Enough
About the Author
