"White Like Me - Privilege"

In his book "White Like Me" published in 2007, Tim Wise discloses the apparent privileges of being white and the disadvantages of being any other color in America.  In the chapter titled Privilege, Wise claims that our efforts of multiculturalism shown by the media is really a "cover-up" of the still existing racial problems.  He also uses personal experience to prove his point.  "For me, white privilege was critical to my actually making it through school at all," Wise says.  "[...]I relied on my whiteness to mark me as a capable person with lots of potential, even when I wasn't demonstrating much of it" (Wise 22).  By having this "white privilege," Wise was able to skip class and break the rules without supposedly getting into too much trouble.  "[...] there's something about being white in this country," Wise asserts, "that allows one, even encourages one, to take a lot of stupid risks, knowing that nine times out of ten everything will work out; you won't get busted and you won't go to jail, neither of which black or brown folks can take for granted in the least" (40). 

Wise's assertions are perfectly valid and believable.  I like how he writes in a narrative fashion to make it more connectable to the reader.  His stories are engaging and thought-provoking.  However, the catch is that almost all of these stories take place more than twenty years ago, and a lot has changed since then.  For one, to me it seems silly that Wise believes that racist teachers nonetheless exist.  He says, "While there are many dedicated and antiracist white educators out there, in my experience the vast majority of them, though dedicated, have no earthly idea what it means to be antiracist" (20).  How does anyone not have an idea of what racism means?  Teachers, being competent adults, are not stupid; they are educated individuals, hence the name of their job.  Being the politically (in)correct society that we are today and the fact that virtually every teacher is a die-hard liberal, they are bound to feel pity for the minorities.  That pity is expressed as an idea of how to be nonracist.  I simply cannot believe that fully racist teachers still exist today.  Something that actually angered me was when Wise talks about seeing Schoolhouse Rock Live performed by fifth through eighth graders, and how it's "borderline racist".  He writes, "Among the lines in the song [Elbow Room] is one that intones, 'There were plenty of fights/To win land rights /But the West was meant to be /It was our manifest destiny!'  Let it suffice to say that happily belting out a tune in which one merrily praises genocide is always easier for those whose ancestors weren't on the receiving end of the deal" (30).  Give me a break!  First off, these lyrics are based on historical fact, something you really shouldn't be offended by.  And besides, is genocide the first thing you think of when you think "manifest destiny?"  I think not.  It's like having a choir sing a black spiritual (which our choir is actually doing) and an audience member being offended because it reminds him or her of the time of slavery.  Come on!  Man up!  It seems like anything you say these days can be offensive.  I can't even dress up as Pocahantas at my school because it depicts an Indian stereotype and may be offensive.  Everybody in America is being divided into these groups: African-American, Chinese-American, European-American, Polish-American, which is supposed to unite us, but I believe it's doing the opposite.  I believe it's dividing us; there are black-skinned Americans, there are white-skinned Americans, but we are all Americans.  Anyways...

Something else that is outdated is when Wise asserts, "Had these house parties been in black neighborhoods they would never have been allowed to go on at all, as large as they were, even without a single illegal substance on the premises, and without a single weapon in sight.  But for whites, in white neighborhoods, everything was different.  Our illegality was looked at with a wink and a nod" (37).  This claim seems like another reality to me.  Maybe he was on Mars, but in my time and place, regardless of the skin color of the culprits, cops bust house parties pretty much every weekend.  Heck, one time, I was at a clean cast party and a cop came because of a noise complaint.  Contrary to Wise's beliefs, cops don't just excuse white people of crimes they commit.  It may appear that cops bust blacks more than whites, but so?  You can't just instantly assume that because more blacks are being punished than whites, it is racism.  There just happens to be more black criminals at one time than whites, or vice versa.  To add on to his claim, Wise says, "[...] there's something about being white in this country that allows one, even encourages one, to take a lot of stupid risks, knowing that nine times out of ten everything will work out; you won't get busted and you won't go to jail, neither of which black or brown folks can take for granted in the least" (40).  I find this assertion to be plainly ridiculous.  Do you think nine times out of ten I won't get busted for murdering a man?  Do you think I am somehow encouraged to do something like that....because I'm white!?  In my opinion, Wise is completely overanalyzing this whole "white privilege" thing.  I believe that even since this book was published, improvements have been made.  I think it's common knowledge for most people in America that no man is "more equal" than another.  I don't deny the fact that racial problems still exist; I simply think that Tim Wise is exaggerating the whole thing.