"You can't put white people in their place when the own the place to begin with"
-Tim Wise
I think that in this article Wise makes some very insightful observations about racism. It was interesting to read this article after we had discussed these idea in class already. I find that this article helps put into words the sort of concepts we discussed in class. He talked about words to be used in being racist towards whites as opposed to blacks and the lack of weight that they carry in the capacity to offend or upset. He makes the important point that they even illicit laughter and therefore more definitely do not have the power to oppress whites. I watched the SNL skit he is referring to (youtube.com "Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase Old Skit") and while funny also serves as a great example for Wise article as well as our class discussion. Even the very nature of skit with Chevy Chase being the interviewer and Richard Prior as the interviewee is speaking volumes about the impact racist words have as those with power use them to oppress those without power. I also agreed with his discussion of poor whites. He says that while poor whites "are less financially powerful than wealthy people of color--they nonetheless retain a certain "one-up" on equally poor or even somewhat better off people of color thanks to racism". Wise is very correct in this observation and it is something that I can back up with fairly personal experience. My father's family grew up extremly poor in rural southern Vermont. They were on welfare and certainly looked down apon by the near by wealthy communities however I have been told that one more that one occasion (apparently my family think this story is funny) my grandmother would say "yeah well at least we aren't n--". It is that sort of mentality that continues to make the idea of reverse racism an unsubstantiated myth is society today.
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Although I don't agree with all of Wise's points, or your opinions for that matter, I really liked how you stated how you felt. It really shows that you understood the reading, and took the time to question how it affected you. Personally, the point that Wise made that I most disagreed with was his saying that poor white people have a one up on blacks, and therefore black people cannot be racist, becuase they cannot oppress whites. I think that in America a lot of emphasis is placed on class, and the importance of money. Anyway, even though I don't agree with your opinion on the subject, I liked how you brought a personal story to your reflection, because it helps to show where your opninions come from.
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