FOOD FOR THOUGHT: AS THE NEW YEAR DAWNS ___________ SOME QUESTIONS FOR MR. TIM WISE & OTHER PROCLAIMED ANTI-RACIST INTELLECTUALS AND / OR ACTIVISTS

I really do appreciate Tim Wise’s writings more than he realizes. I learn a lot from him. However, I have been attempting (for years) to get him to see that it’s important for him to understand the fact that his Eurocentric perspective (though it is NOT by any means a typical one _ in fact, it’s quite advanced) is still real, and bleeds through in many of his generally well-written essays. Mr. Wise reminds me of white progressives who quickly and openly take the public position that they realize undoing the ongoing impact of deep-seated, thoroughly entrenched, racist socialization and indoctrination is a lifetime endeavor, but as soon as you point specifics out to them regarding manifestations of their taintedness _ they recoil in disbelief that their “progressiveness” could possibly be questioned. It’s as if they take the position that they understand the need to learn more, but NOT FROM US (UNLESS PERHAPS WE HOLD PHD’S). One of Mr. Wise’s recent submissions is at the following link (a well written essay regarding the assassination of “honest Abe” ( https://timjwise.medium.com/abraham-lincoln-was-assassinated-in-the-name-of-white-supremacy-5c0ec101818d ).

With regard to the above referenced article, some outstanding examples of what I mean regarding his Eurocentric perspective bleeding through, are as follows:

1) As it relates to being a “committed white supremacist” _ both John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln shared that curse. For example, I’m not sure if Mr. Wise recalls from his AP History class (that is, if it was taught) that Lincoln declared via an 1862 letter to Horace Greeley _ “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union…” ( https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/greeley.htm )

2) Technically, the claim can be made that white supremacist “Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in the name of white supremacy” (even though the idea is obviously redundant and incongruent). However, it’s also a crystal-clear matter of (as Malik El Shabazz is known for emphasizing and popularizing, many years later, in the case of John F. Kennedy ) _ “the [racist / white supremacist] chickens coming home to roost” ( https://www.quora.com/What-did-Malcolm-X-mean-when-he-said-his-famous-statement-The-chickens-have-come-home-to-roost-Why-is-the-quote-so-famous ) It IS the exact, same political dynamic, and I do mean EXACTLY (in every way).

3) Mr. Wise has a tendency to discuss historical events and realities, in manners that suggest they are divorced from the present. For example, he asserted that “white supremacy was an ingrained system so profoundly woven into the fabric of America that some would be willing to kill at the thought of its diminution.” The operative, grossly- erroneous term is “was.” I’m sure he realizes it should be “is” instead, but that’s NOT what he wrote. We certainly see the reality continuing to play out via insanely-racist, white-supremacist-based, fabricated notions such as so-called “replacement theory” _ don’t we ( https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/15/buffalo-shooting-white-replacement-theory-inspires-mass )? Potentially, he also made the misstep of seemingly divorcing historical reality from current conditions when he wrote about seeing “how integral white supremacy has been to America…” Again, I’m fairly certain that he understands the importance of replacing “has been” with “is”, or adding “still is” at the end of his sentence. This is NOT just a simplistic, subtle nuance. Instead, especially as it relates to teaching about important, fundamental, historical and contemporary societal realities, such as the historical and ongoing existence of white supremacy, it’s a matter of vital importance to ALWAYS emphasize the clear connections between historical events and realities, and current, overall conditions and realities. IT IS SO VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE HISTORICAL RECORD IS NOT A DISJOINTED CONUNDRUM. INSTEAD, IT’S A CLEAR, LINEAR CONTINUUM.

4) It is NOT entirely factual that “the underlying cause of the Civil War itself [was] enslavement.” A legitimate argument can be made that enslavement was ONE so-called “underlying cause,” but more so than anything else the causes of the U.S. Civil War had to do with a socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and sociocultural POWER STRUGGLE between racist, white Northern Industrialists and racist, white Southern Agriculturalists ( with enslaved Africans being caught in the middle). The major consideration regarding enslaved Africans was the question of (something that Mr. Wise usually writes a lot about) which side would enjoy their free and/or dirt-cheap labor??? ( http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/causes-of-the-civil-war/index.html#:~:text=What%20led%20to%20the%20outbreak,key%20issue%20was%20states'%20rights. ).

5) If it is true that: “To see how integral white supremacy has been [and still is] to America is to force us to ask what obligations we have now to address that legacy. And that’s a comeuppance white Americans have been avoiding for hundreds of years. Our current textbook wars and the attacks on Critical Race Theory can only be understood as part of this crucial context. The same people seeking to censor the truth now have been censoring it for generations _ from the start. Because lies are what they live by and have always relied upon. Some things never change” _ then, as so-called anti-racist intellectuals and activists _ WHAT DOES THIS INFORM US TO DO IN 2023 _ OTHER THAN WRITE ARTICLES AND GIVE SPEECHES? If it is true that “some things never change” _ is that a statement of resigning ourselves to ACCEPTANCE OF THINGS AS THEY ARE? If not, what (realistically) will it take to produce concrete, significant, measurable. permanent, anti-racist change and improvement, and if those who supposedly have the most knowledge and understanding are NOT responsible for taking the lead _ who is?