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A review by kevin_shepherd
Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority by Tim Wise
5.0
First, let me say that the contents of this small book represent an unmitigated threat to the status quo. Consequently, anyone who feels menaced by the deterioration of white privilege may think it necessary to attack Tim Wise’s credibility, his methodology, and his statistical sources. Fair enough. Fire away.
However, there are a few derogatory tactics that one should forgo if one wishes to avoid looking like a complete jackass…
One. Read the material. If you intend to criticize Mr. Wise you should really have your proverbial ducks in a row. Saying things like, “I didn’t feel enlightened after skimming the material” puts you on the fast-track to jackassdom.
Two. Calling out Wise as a “white man taking advantage of his white privilege to make money,” or better still “a white man who thinks only white people are to blame for every problem in American society” proves beyond all reasonable doubt that you either didn’t read the material or you are simply too obtuse to comprehend the material [see item One].
Three. Be certain that the tone you project onto the author is not, in fact, your own. Describing the book as, “delivered with too much anger” or that it has a “purely angry tone” is a highly arbitrary assertion to make of printed material, especially when the audiobook, read by Tim Wise himself, conveys no animosity or hostility whatsoever.
And Four. Be sure your negative is actually a negative. Even if the author was indeed pissed off (he’s not), shouldn’t he be? Shouldn’t anyone who looks at centuries of oppression, subversion and injustice be angry? Should not the lies, the overt manipulations, the deceit, spark a little hostility in your tone? And now you’re dismissing the entire presentation because you mistook the author’s zeal and urgency for anger? Seriously bro, stop being such a jackass.
However, there are a few derogatory tactics that one should forgo if one wishes to avoid looking like a complete jackass…
One. Read the material. If you intend to criticize Mr. Wise you should really have your proverbial ducks in a row. Saying things like, “I didn’t feel enlightened after skimming the material” puts you on the fast-track to jackassdom.
Two. Calling out Wise as a “white man taking advantage of his white privilege to make money,” or better still “a white man who thinks only white people are to blame for every problem in American society” proves beyond all reasonable doubt that you either didn’t read the material or you are simply too obtuse to comprehend the material [see item One].
Three. Be certain that the tone you project onto the author is not, in fact, your own. Describing the book as, “delivered with too much anger” or that it has a “purely angry tone” is a highly arbitrary assertion to make of printed material, especially when the audiobook, read by Tim Wise himself, conveys no animosity or hostility whatsoever.
And Four. Be sure your negative is actually a negative. Even if the author was indeed pissed off (he’s not), shouldn’t he be? Shouldn’t anyone who looks at centuries of oppression, subversion and injustice be angry? Should not the lies, the overt manipulations, the deceit, spark a little hostility in your tone? And now you’re dismissing the entire presentation because you mistook the author’s zeal and urgency for anger? Seriously bro, stop being such a jackass.