Full disclosure: I'm white, so I don't want to whitesplain, but this is what I've observed.
The reason why many people do not like Tim Wise is precisely because of whitesplaining. He speaks on behalf of POCs, about white privilege, when as a white man he benefits from that privilege immensely.
I understand that, I really do. That said, I have heard many POC's in SJ conversations say things along the line of "it's not my job to educate you," (which I have no problems with, and am thankful for the POC who are willing to do the heavy lifting). I guess I don't get how we can simultaneously accept "it's not a POC's job to educate you" and "it's wrong for a white person to do the educating, because they benefit from privilege."
Add to that: I understand that it's INCREDIBLY PROBLEMATIC that a lot of white people will give more weight to a white voice than a brown one. But if *someone* is getting through to someone with that (conscious or not) bias, I don't see how that's a bad thing?
I mean, there are probably lots of other reasons why people don't like Tim Wise, but it seems like "because he's white" doesn't really make a lot of sense, all things considered.
One criticism is that he's making a living from his antiracism work and, like the article endsville posted says, taking away from POC who do the same work. It's vital for white people to talk to other white people about racism...but when he goes professional with it, he's taking the place of POC who'd otherwise get that speaking gig or that panel spot.
I def think there's a place for his writings but I wish he'd write short concise pieces. As others have commented here, this is way too long to pass on to the bigots we know. This should be about half this length because his role, I think, is to keep introducing Racism 101 to white people, not do in-depth antiracism analysis.
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The reason why many people do not like Tim Wise is precisely because of whitesplaining. He speaks on behalf of POCs, about white privilege, when as a white man he benefits from that privilege immensely.
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Add to that: I understand that it's INCREDIBLY PROBLEMATIC that a lot of white people will give more weight to a white voice than a brown one. But if *someone* is getting through to someone with that (conscious or not) bias, I don't see how that's a bad thing?
I mean, there are probably lots of other reasons why people don't like Tim Wise, but it seems like "because he's white" doesn't really make a lot of sense, all things considered.
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I def think there's a place for his writings but I wish he'd write short concise pieces. As others have commented here, this is way too long to pass on to the bigots we know. This should be about half this length because his role, I think, is to keep introducing Racism 101 to white people, not do in-depth antiracism analysis.
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