24+ Tim Wise Quotes On Education, Politics And Future

Tim Wise is an American anti-racism activist and writer. He is known for his lectures, essays, and books on racism in the United States. He has written extensively on the intersection of racism, white privilege, and social justice and has been a keynote speaker at hundreds of college campuses across the country. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Tim Wise on education, leadership, politics.

Top 10 Tim Wise Quotes

1. Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege. In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.
2. Standing still is never an option so long as inequities remain embedded in the very fabric of the culture.
3. Precisely because white denial has long trumped claims of racism, people of color tend to underreport their experiences with racial bias rather than exaggerate them.
4. The denial of racism is a form of racism itself.
5. Violating the 4th Amendment guarantees against illegal searches and seizures is not the way to solve crime problems.
6. There won't be any more white folks around who think the 1950s were the good old days, because there won't be any more white folks around who actually remember them.
7. 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.
8. I think for folks of color the key to combatting racism period is a) trusting their instincts and b) solidarity with one another.
9. If you want to know if racism is a problem in your country, you might not want to ask white people.
10. It's hard to say when or if we will actually arrive at that place called 'post-racial', or, better yet, post-racism.

Tim Wise Famous Quotes And Sayings

The power of resistance is to set an example: not necessarily to change the person with whom you disagree, but to empower the one who is watching and whose growth is not yet completed, whose path is not at all clear, whose direction is still very much up in the proverbial air. — Tim Wise

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. — Tim Wise

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. — Tim Wise

The system of white supremacy is intended to make folks of color doubt themselves, their intelligence, their abilities, their very sanity. And so it's important to remember that folks of color know their own realities. — Tim Wise

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. — Tim Wise

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. — Tim Wise

What whites have rarely had to think about—because being the dominant group, we are so used to having our will done, with a little effort at least—is that maybe the point is not victory, however much we all wish to see justice attained and injustice routed. Maybe our redemption comes from the struggle itself. Maybe it is in the effort, the striving for equality and freedom that we become human. — Tim Wise

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. — Tim Wise

So, in "Melting Pot" the children (about a third of whom were kids of color) sang the line, "America was the new world and Europe was the old," in one stroke eradicating the narratives of indigenous persons for whom America was hardly new, and any nonwhite kids whose old worlds had been in Africa or Asia, not Europe. — 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. — Tim Wise

People of color have to do this work as a mater of everyday survival. And so long as they have to, who am I to act as if I have a choice in the matter? Especially when my future and that of my children in large part depends on the eradication of racism? There is no choice. — Tim Wise

You can't organize people if you don't love them. And however hard it can be to love the racist you come in contact with; doing so is the first obligation of a white antiracist. — Tim Wise

Too often, systems of oppression turn those who are the targets of the oppression against one another. — Tim Wise

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. — Tim Wise

Life Lessons by Tim Wise

1. Tim Wise's work emphasizes the importance of recognizing and challenging systemic racism in order to create a more equitable society.
2. He encourages people to be open to learning about their own privilege and the ways in which it can be used to create positive change.
3. He stresses the importance of listening to and amplifying the voices of those who are most affected by racism and other forms of oppression.