Tim Wise
“A Particular Cheap White Wine” Response
Tim Wise states that white students do receive many unearned advantages throughout their school careers. This is because white children tend to come from families who have the means and resources to ensure quality education for their children. The truth is that, as Wise points out, the majority of minority students come from backgrounds with less money and less education than their white counterparts. I believe that this cycle is deeply rooted in our country's racist history. The effects of this history continue to play a role in the lives of people of all races in our country. As Wise suggests, affirmative action attempts to stop the cycle of inequality by giving minority students a small advantage. "Since scholarships would have been more equitably distributed between the races in a system without a history of institutionalized discrimination--and to doubt this is to assume that folks of color still wouldn't have qualified for them, which means that one would have to believe in inherent inferiority on their part, which belief is the textbook definition of racism--to now steer scholarships to such persons is only to create a situation closer to that which would have existed anyway, but for a legacy of racial oppression" (Wise 3). In today’s world, not many people would ever admit to believing in the textbook definition of racism. Unfortunately, the belief that people of color are inferior to white people is still more of a prevalent belief in our society than most would want to admit. In most western civilizations, I believe that white people still see themselves as the norm, while minorities are seen to fall outside the norm. This, to me, is one of the most insidious aspects of modern racism. If no one is willing to acknowledge that it exists, how can it be overcome?
"Surely scholarships for people of color are not predicated on intolerance for whites, nor are they based on some kind of blind contempt for whites as a
Tim Wise states that white students do receive many unearned advantages throughout their school careers. This is because white children tend to come from families who have the means and resources to ensure quality education for their children. The truth is that, as Wise points out, the majority of minority students come from backgrounds with less money and less education than their white counterparts. I believe that this cycle is deeply rooted in our country's racist history. The effects of this history continue to play a role in the lives of people of all races in our country. As Wise suggests, affirmative action attempts to stop the cycle of inequality by giving minority students a small advantage. "Since scholarships would have been more equitably distributed between the races in a system without a history of institutionalized discrimination--and to doubt this is to assume that folks of color still wouldn't have qualified for them, which means that one would have to believe in inherent inferiority on their part, which belief is the textbook definition of racism--to now steer scholarships to such persons is only to create a situation closer to that which would have existed anyway, but for a legacy of racial oppression" (Wise 3). In today’s world, not many people would ever admit to believing in the textbook definition of racism. Unfortunately, the belief that people of color are inferior to white people is still more of a prevalent belief in our society than most would want to admit. In most western civilizations, I believe that white people still see themselves as the norm, while minorities are seen to fall outside the norm. This, to me, is one of the most insidious aspects of modern racism. If no one is willing to acknowledge that it exists, how can it be overcome?
"Surely scholarships for people of color are not predicated on intolerance for whites, nor are they based on some kind of blind contempt for whites as a