“We may all bleed the same color—as they say in homilies—but some of us bleed a lot more than others.” According to Tim Wise, the antiracism activist who made this powerful assertion, this statement sums up the state of the union in regards to racial matters. Through boycotts and demonstrations members of various races, be they part of the minority or the majority, have come together in order to create a more perfect union; one free of oppression and equal to all. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, there still exists a distinction between the rights and abilities of members of different races. Racism and privilege are two concepts developed through the beliefs of a nation, as well as on an individual scale. By analyzing the history of the United States, and its present state of affairs, one will be able to construct an informed view of how each race of the present is affected by the actions of our countries ancestors, and how these issues can be handled and addressed.
Racism and privilege can be defined as an act that systematically treats a group of individuals differently based on their race, where the privileged are the racists. As race continues to be a defining quality for people in our nation today, racism and privilege are still factors towards people of different ethnic groups racism is still rampant in our country today. As the very educated and knowledgeable source on racism and privilege, Tim Wise, states, “Racism is an ideology that says certain people, by virtue of their race, are either inferior or superior to others of a different race, with race usually being defined by skin color.” This definition of racism applies to the United States today as we have become a melting pot of the races and every day people come in contact with many different races. If racism was thought to be nonexistent today, it is extensive in reality. So many races have come together in this country, and privilege is still being blamed on the whites. Tim Wise defines privilege as “any advantage, head start, or protection the system grants whites but not people of color.” This definition by a scholar and expert on the subject of racism and privilege just goes to show that even with the vast amount of races in America today, whites are still considered the privileged and the ones considered the racists.
The United States of America has made large strides towards racial equality over the years, but there are still high levels of injustice produced by lines drawn between those born of privilege and those born of strife. Being of mixed heritage, I have the ability to form a view of the racial state of America, through the eyes of not only a minority, but also slightly from the point of the majority. As a young child I knew that I was not completely like the African American side of my family, or the Caucasian side; I knew that I was a blend of both. I was informed, however, very quickly from my black side, that no matter how much white I had in me, if I had even a drop of black blood in me, I was black to the “white man.” Hearing this statement as a young child struck me very hard, as before that I have assumed that I was just as whiter as I was black. Even back in 1997, years after the civil rights movement, black people still had the mindset of us against them. Them being white America. Now as a young adult that can better construct my own views of the world, I am proud of my white side, but still in the back of my mind I believe that I am not one of “them” and I never will be. The races will never be as desegregated as we desire to be.
This article relates to paper three due to the correlation between food communities and racial groups. Both provide a sense of belonging to those involved, while both segregate those that are not. Whether it is unintentionally or intentionally, both publics classify themselves as well as classifying others groups. The perpetual continuum of “white supremacy” and “black minorities” is existent because of humans declaring themselves as such. Tim Wise seeks to decrease the amount of separations while maintaining the uniqueness and difference between various backgrounds to fulfill the American culture.
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