White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent book! A must read for anyone interested in social justice and trying to understand their role in resisting oppression. In narrating his story, Tim not only tells his story, he also highlights how privilege has served him as a white man. He also addresses the cost of this privilege for white people, something not often addressed. What exactly does whiteness demand of white people? What do they sacrifice in order to obtain the privilege whiteness affords them? These are powerful questions we all need to reflect on - because whiteness impacts all communities - in Latino communities where you gain privilege if you are born blanquita or as grandmother's often exude in delight, "es bien guerita". These are all acts of oppression which pits lighter skin against darker skin, even within one's own family. And all of it an illusion...because race is an illusion. Tim's book is priceless in the fight against oppression, especially in the cancer of racism.
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