Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama

by Tim Wise

Book Overview

Race is, and always has been, an explosive issue in the United States. In this timely new book, Tim Wise explores how Barack Obama's emergence as a political force is taking the race debate to new levels. According to Wise, for many white people, Obama's 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0872865002
• ISBN13: 9780872865006
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: City Lights Books
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.9" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Brutal facts for brutal acts

Tim Wise provides a searing update on the new racism that has entered the sociopolitical mindscape in the United States. He provides thought-provoking facts, both current and historical, that demonstrate a behind-the-scenes unconscious agenda played out in society because of unacknowledged white privilege. Not even Obama escapes the pressures of the new racism. I am sending copies to my family members and friends.

Great

Shipment was fast. The book came in really good condition. Hope to use this seller in the future.

Is Race a pure Strategy for de-railing the Obama political train?

Tim Wise, along with Robert Jensen (at the University of Texas, Austin) is among only a handful of vocal, activist, white, anti-racists still remaining in America. In this irreverent book that appears to have gone to press just shortly after Obama's election, Wise proves that he is not afraid to call a "spade a spade" even in race-sensitive America, and even when the subject is "our first Black President." Although his main point in this penetrating series of "essay like commentaries" seem to have been that of raising the level of consciousness about the subtle differences between white denial in Racism 1.0 and the newer even more pernicious denial in Racism version 2.0, Wise does one other thing that I think is even more important than the message about the continuing evolution of white denial. He also goes about removing all pretense (and the remaining clothes) from our race-allergic" biracial Emperor, on the issue of race. By taking no quarter with Obama's clearly established "race-cowardice" stance, in the face of the most devastating social and political meltdown in the black community ever, Wise establishes himself as the voice to be heard in America's conversation on race. One that is increasingly being commandeered and dominated by the likes of Sarah Palin's "Tea Party," and the shock Jocks from the racist radical right like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. As always, Wise has learned that when talking about race, one must come armed with all the facts, and here he is a virtual encyclopedia of facts about the alarming increase in the chasm in the racial divide -- mostly as a result of Racism 2.0. But on the other topic of this book, Obama's skittishness on race, I agree with the author entirely: that Obama's disgraceful "pandering" to the white supremacist vote, harks back to the old days of the Jim Crow South, where right up through the election night parties, blacks were "wined and dined," but on the morning after the election, they were the only ones "missing in action" when it came to handing out the political goodies. And oddly, with the Shirley Sherrod flap, and Obama's gratuitous announcement that "there is no black agenda," this pattern has gotten worse rather than better since this book went to press. To their credit, the "Tea Party," the shock jocks from the right, and Fox News pundits, all smell blood in Obama's skittishness on the issue of race. As a result, they are able to fashion, based on this vulnerability, a "pure strategy" for ruining Obama's chances of a continued veto-proof Congress, and ultimately for derailing any attempt by him of trying to win a second term. Sadly, as Wise so carefully points out, Obama and his Chicago handlers are falling for this racist "okie-doke," and right into the radical right's trap: When the idiots of the far right say "boo," like a cage of monkeys in the zoo, the Obama administration, first pees, and then jumps all over themselves. Thus as anyone can plainly see (from the Shirley S

Not About Blame

I am thoroughly convinced that we have reached a point in American history where racism can only be addressed and, eventually, abolished though the conscious action of White America. Just as women who speak against sexism are labeled weak and accused of whining; blacks who speak against racism are destined to be accused of 'playing the race card'. Tim Wise constructs two pithy arguments pertaining the "Call for White Responsibility". First, Wise discusses the denial of racism in the current age. Second, Wise discusses the need for white Americans to confront, attack and reverse the impact of white privilege. People of all races must be wary of the concept of "transcending Blackness". This is the tendency to accept a select segment of the Black population because the defy the current stigmatism of negative stereotypes. Wise examines this phenomenon in detail. Second, people of all races must admit that the vast majority of white Americans currently living are not to blame for current systems of racism which are in place. However, Wise is calling for Caucasians to acknowledge any benefits that they may receive from the inherited system and work towards truly equalizing the American experience through the abolition of racism. If I could suggest that every American read a selection of Tim Wise before they attend an American University, I would. Perhaps the world would be a different place.

A very penetrating book

Mr. Wise's several internet essays after the great triumph of hope (Obama's election) last November left me a little worried about him. He seemed a little too caught up in the irrational exuberance of the period as he denounced left wing gadflies who were, in his opinion, spoiling the joy of the moment by continuing to denounce Obama as a pro-corporate militarist front. But in spite of the understandable celebration of having the first black president, there is the inescapable fact that Obama's policies, stripped of the veneer of pretty rhetoric, are hardly different than his Democratic presidential predecessors. In his short time in office, while doing a few small good things, he has already shown his commitment to the fundamentals of the military industrial complex and the re-empowerment of Wall Street speculators. I'm glad that Mr. Wise, as this book demonstrates, has managed to retain a level head regarding Obama, in spite of those post-election essays. Quoting sources like academic studies and Department of Justice reports, Wise shows that racism is still a serious problem in this society. Black and brown people are 25 percent of the drug users in this country but make up 90 percent of those in prison for drug possession. White people are 70 percent of the drug users yet are only ten percent of the persons in prison for such a crime. A 2001 report from the Department of Justice found that black women were 9 times more likely than white women to be stopped at airports and searched for contraband but white women were 2 times more likely than black women to actually have drugs on them. More blacks than whites are pulled over by police on suspicion of having contraband but white people are actually more likely to have contraband in these incidents. Studies show that at least a third of businesses have discriminated in hiring based on race. A National Opinion research survey in the early 90's found that 50 to 60 percent of whites were willing to admit to holding the view that blacks are generally lazier, more prone to violence, etc. than whites. In a September 2008 AP poll, 60 percent of likely Democratic voters admitted to having negative views about blacks in general but still planned to vote for Obama. A big stereotype that polling among whites has revealed is that whites associate blacks with welfare dependency, even though, as Wise notes, 5 of 6 blacks have never received welfare. Wise notes that a Wall Street Journal article in 1995 showed that around 70 percent of whites with bad credit could still get a mortgage but only 16 percent of blacks with bad credit could do so. As for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, Wise notes how federal government policies have caused a veritable ethnic cleansing of blacks from New Orleans. Wise also recounts the horrendous incidents in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans during Katrina. Wise is very worried that while Obama's election signifies some good things, it also could serve to make fight