About Me

heyy...my names kendra. I'm a sophmore @ ric studying to become an Eled. teacher with a concentration in social studies. I run xc and track for RIC and played soccer my freshmen year. I've been with my boyfriend for 5 years & goin strong haha<3 FYI me and katie are cousins :)so there's a little about me...ttyl

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Monday, April 7, 2008

“Whites Swim in Racial Preference” by Tim Wise

Context/Premise:
Privilege, whites, blacks, minority, segregation, racial preference, affirmative action, inequalities, disadvantages, ignorance, fair vs. unfair, schools, deeply rooted beliefs, race-neutral, community, discrimination, children, generations, education, social inequalities and opportunities.

Argument:

Tim Wise argues that “so long as white privilege remains firmly in place and the preferential treatment that flows form those privileges continues to work to the benefit of whites, all talk of ending affirmative action is not only premature but a slap in the face to those who have fought, and died, for equal opportunity.”

Evidence:

“Few whites have ever thought of our position as resulting from racial preferences.”
This statement is the belief that whites had to work hard to get where they are and it was not because they were white that they were able to get there. This idea of being privileged because you are white is something that some white people may have a hard time understanding or believing. There hasn’t been many times in which I can say that I have felt privileged for being white, however I think that is because I do not recognize that simply being white privileges me.

“Privilege, to us, is like water to the fish: invisible precisely because we cannot image life without it.”
I really liked the way Tim Wise explained how privilege was taken for granted by whites because it is something which surrounds them and just a part of life that it is unrecognizable to them now. Those who are privileged do not recognize it anymore because it is engrained within society; therefore, they take it for granted.

One of the issues which we were discussing in class last week had to do with whether or not it was fair that 20 points were awarded to undergraduate applicants who were members of an underrepresented minority (blacks, Latinos, and American Indians). During class I was struggling with how I felt about this issue. Even after reading this document I still feel uncertain about how I feel about this issue. Towards the end of Tim Wise’s document he says “recognition that economic statues and even geography can have a profound effect on the quality of K-12 schooling that one receives, and that no one should be punished for things that are beyond their control…white preference remains hidden because it is more subtle, more ingrained, and isn’t called white preference, even if that’s the effect.”

After reading the statement above I felt as though I got a better understanding as to why I am having such a difficult time deciding how I stand on the issue of underprivileged people being awarded more points because they were black, Latino, or American Indian. Some other statements which made me think that those who suffered should be awarded more points include:
“Even truly talents students of color will be unable to access those extra points simply because of where they live, their economic status and ultimately their race, which is intertwined with both.”
“racial preferences, hidden as they are behind the structure of social inequalities that limit where people live, where they go to school, and the kinds of opportunities they have been afforded.”

“White preferences, the result of normal workings of a racist society, can remain out of sight and out of mind, while the power of the state is turned against the paltry preferences mean to offset them.”
The main part of this statement that caught my eye was “out of sight and out of mind.” When things are not constantly in your face there is a tendency to forget they exist or simply to not recognize that they exist.

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