Quotes by Tim Wise

Tim Wise

After all, acknowledging unfairness then calls decent people forth to correct those injustices. And since most persons are at their core, decent folks, the need to ignore evidence of injustice is powerful: To do otherwise would force whites to either push for change (which they would perceive as against their interests) or live consciously as hypocrites who speak of freedom and opportunity but perpetuate a system of inequality.

Hypocrite

Opportunity

Powerful

And in “Elbow Room” the cast sings the glories of westward expansion in the United States, which involved the murder of native peoples and the violent conquest of half of Mexico. Among the lines in the song is one that intones, “There were plenty of fights / To win land right / 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.

Fighting

Song

Winning

And let’s just be honest, there is no such place called ‘justice,’ if by that we envision a finish line, or a point at which the battle is won and the need to continue the struggle over with. After all, even when you succeed in obtaining a measure of justice, you’re always forced to mobilize to defend that which you’ve won. There is no looming vacation. But there is redemption in struggle.

Justice

Struggle

Vacation

Antiracism is not “my” campaign. I have been doing antiracism organizing, activism, educating and writing for 20 years, in one form or another, but it’s not a personal crusade. My work is part of a larger tradition, and larger effort, involving mostly people of color, and of course some white allies as well.

Color

Writing

Years

As a writer, there are times when you have something to say, and yet no particular “hook” upon which to hang the missive you are burning to release.

Burning

Hook

Release

Being asked to describe what ‘post-racial’ means is a bit like being asked to describe a leprechaun, cold fusion or unicorns: we know what is meant, but, if we are willing to be honest, we also know that none of the four describe something real, something tangible, something true.

Fusion

Mean

Real

Hardly any aspect of my life, from where I had lived to my education to my employment history to my friendships, had been free from the taint of racial inequity, from racism, from whiteness. My racial identity had shaped me from the womb forward. I had not been in control of my own narrative. It wasn’t just race that was a social construct. So was I.

Identity

Race

Racism

Here’s the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are literally millions of human beings whose lives have been snuffed out by people who conquered under the banner of a white god.

Jesus

Reality

White

I think for folks of color the key to combatting racism period is a) trusting their instincts and b) solidarity with one another.

Color

Keys

Thinking

If we dont figure out a way to create equity, real equity, of opportunity and access, to good schools, housing, health care, and decent paying jobs, were not going to survive as a productive and healthy society.

Jobs

Real

School

Follow The Behaviour University in order to get the greatest quotes from the greatest people of all time so that you can tap into your own greatness.

Air

Burning

Children

Cities

Class

College

Color

Commitment

Country

Culture

Denial

Drinking

Empowering

Fabric

Fighting

Form

Fusion

Growth

Guarantees

Hard

Hook

Hurt

Hypocrite

Identity

Ignorance

Jesus

Jobs

Justice

Keys

Kids

Long

Mean

Opportunity

Oppression

Osmosis

People

Posts

Powerful

Problem

Race

Racism

Real

Reality

Release

Remember

School

Song

Strong

Struggle

Target

The Future Blueprint

Tool

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

Tool

The Autobiography

Tool

The Behaviour Diary

Tool

The Dating Diary

Tool

The Relationship Therapist

Tool

Quotes by Tim Wise

Tim Wise

As a writer, there are times when you have something to say, and yet no particular “hook” upon which to hang the missive you are burning to release.

Being asked to describe what ‘post-racial’ means is a bit like being asked to describe a leprechaun, cold fusion or unicorns: we know what is meant, but, if we are willing to be honest, we also know that none of the four describe something real, something tangible, something true.

Here’s the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are literally millions of human beings whose lives have been snuffed out by people who conquered under the banner of a white god.

I think for folks of color the key to combatting racism period is a) trusting their instincts and b) solidarity with one another.

If we dont figure out a way to create equity, real equity, of opportunity and access, to good schools, housing, health care, and decent paying jobs, were not going to survive as a productive and healthy society.

Get Social with TBU

Topics by Tim Wise

Popular Tools

The Future Blueprint

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

The Autobiography

The Behaviour Diary

The Dating Diary

The Relationship Therapist

Menu

Menu