There is much talk about the problem of racial discrimination. With the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States, Americans were confident that the racial problem had been fully considered. The main focus of the book Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity by Tim Wise (2010) is the existence of racial problems in the world. Tim Wise (2010), one of the best speakers in the United States of America, says that even though the President states on the colorblindness society and he is sure that racism is combated and there is no racial discrimination in the country, it still exists. In other words, people believed that the election of Barack Obama, the representative of the Afro-American nation, would solve a number of problems connected with racial inequality. In reality, the problem remains unsolved and, according to Tim Wise (2010), no one even tries to solve it as the authorities believe that the problem does not exist.
Obama told the delegates in one of his speeches that, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there is the United States of America” (Obama in Anderson, 2008, para. 3). The problem started in the book by Tim Wise (2010) is essential as people should know that racism takes place and the information about the post-racial period is ungrounded. Wise (2010) also believes that racism is institutionalized in the United States of America and no one pays much attention to the problem because it is impossible to do anything within the bounds of current policies. The author’s opinion is persuasive. It is possible to understand his position while reading the book. The examples Tim Wise (2010) highlights are really catching and make people deep in thought.
Discussion
To confirm the idea that racism still exists and the information about the post-racial era is ungrounded, the author uses a number of real examples and supports those with obvious facts. The first point that should be discussed is the idea that
Post-racial liberalism is inadequate for remedying persistent racial inequities. Because those inequities are themselves too often the result of racial discrimination and race-specific injuries perpetrated by whites against people of color – and not, as post-racial liberalism insists, the result of race-neutral economic or cultural factors – applying “universal” solutions to said inequities will likely fail to fully ameliorate them (Wise, 2010, p. 17).
The author supports his idea by means of examples from the life of American society. The idea of post-racial liberalism is not something new. The notion has been used long before, but Obama tries to insist that post-racial liberalism is what people can experience now. Dwelling upon the universal policies directed at people of color and aimed at helping those in the following spheres of human life, health care, job search, and education, the President remains blind. All those attempts are unsuccessful due to a number of reasons. The social perception of the policies in the society differs much from the perception of those by the President. According to Wise (2010), the President believes that the problem is considered. He blindly believes that the absence of visual and direct aggression is the main example of problem elimination.
The President is sure that the problem of racial discrimination is solved and the society lives in a post-racial liberal era with color blinded considerations. But he fails to understand that the prejudices that live in society have not been removed yet. On the one hand, the President tries to pay much attention to the problem by creating different policies which deal with universality. On the other hand, Obama is sure that the problem has been solved when he had been elected as the 44th President of the United States of America. He believes that his election solved the problem of racial discrimination and that people became free from racial prejudices.
Obama wants to be neutral to the problem of racism in the country. Using the term post-racial liberalism and the idea that it was he who made education and health care more affordable for all people including those of color, the President tries to close the gaps that exist in the society between people of different races. The problem exists not because Obama does not want to combat it, but because he sincerely believes that there is no problem at all. The post-racial liberalism presupposes the elimination of iniquity in education, income, and health that is not the real state in the society. The President is also wrong about the race-neutral consideration in society. They do not solve the problem, but, they can make it worse (Wise, 2010).
Tim Wise (2010) states that “colorblindness not only fails the remedy discrimination and racial inequity, but it can also actually make both problems worth” (Wise, 2010, p. 18) because the “encouraging individuals and institutions to downplay the role of race and racism in the lives of the public will only impede the ability to respond to the needs of that public” (Wise, 2010, p. 20). To support the idea, Tim Wise (2010) says that “to be colorblind… is not to think about such things” (p. 138). But in reality, everything is different. The situation is getting worse due to the fact that colorblindness politics can harmfully affect those who support this idea. This may cause a violation. The “intensification of racial thinking as a result of colorblindness” (Wise, 2010, p. 136) can result in the increase of racially biased thinking. When one race is placed higher than another by means of the policies which are aimed at protecting Afro-Americans, society can get frustrated.
Raising the problem of racial discrimination and the increase of universal policies makes some people think that people of color are praised more. The ideology appears that “white people [are] the new oppressed minority” (p. 148). Such considerations may create new tension in the society that will arouse in a new confrontation of white and color races.
The problem that is not discussed is not solved. Moreover, society becomes confident that there is no problem at all. Wise (2010) stresses that the denial of the problem does not eliminate it, the versa effect is observed. The author states that the current problem is in the “see no evil” (Wise, 2010, p. 191) approach as most people do not face the reality. How can society combat a problem without having identified it? This is a rhetoric question Wise (2010) asks.
The third example that the racism flourishes and that the problem is unsolvable in modern conditions, according to Tim Wise (2010), is that the wrong priorities are stressed. “If certain people face obstacles not faced by others – such as race-based discrimination – then universal programs of general uplift cannot possibly serve as the palliative for their condition” (p. 20).
Tim Wise (2010) asks a rhetorical question about how “we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes” (p. 46). White society may never understand the people of color, their values and world perception. Living in one and the same society, they should have the same hopes, but it is impossible. Wise (2010) states there is no need to make all people equal. There is no necessity to unite those under the same beliefs and considerations. Different people have absolutely different history and their hopes may also vary, but what the President and his team should do is to create policies that would apply the idea of the equal treatment of all people, without considering their races.
Wise (2010) offers the following example, if a child of color and a white one live in different areas, go to different schools and are treated differently, they may never understand each other. The problem may never be solved by means of treating different races similarly. White people do not know what racial discrimination is, they cannot understand how it feels when one is treated according to his/her color of skin. That is why the idea of universality will never work. The author offers the policy of illuminated individualism. Its main idea is the stress on people as on the inner world of individualities, not on the color of their skin. All people should be treated according to their inner qualities, without lightening other factors.
Conclusion
Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity by Tim Wise (2010) is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It is crucial to restate that the main idea of the book: the existence of racial problems and feeble attempts to solve them. But the results do not make any sense. It should be reminded that according to the author’s opinion the President makes all possible to apply the idea to the society that the problem has already been solved and there is nothing to worry about. The universal policies the President applies to the society do not make any good, vice versa, they create additional obstacles on the way to colorblindness society.
The book is very informative. I knew nothing about the modern situation in the country and about the racial prejudices that still exist. Wise (2010) explains many processes and consequences which I have not understood before. The consideration of the problem from a new perspective pushed me to check the problem in detail and analyze the actions that occur in society from a critical perspective. Using the ideas I read in the book, I am going to revalue my personal convictions about the racial situation in society and I am sure that I will be able to make wise conclusions after thorough research and deep thinking. The persuasive arguments and obvious examples Tim Wise (2010) provides in his book do not leave any chance to disagree with him.
Reference List
- Anderson, S. J. (2008). Barack Obama: A meteoric rise. CNN Politics.com. Web.
- Wise, T. (2010). Colorblind: The rise of post-racial politics and the retreat from racial equity. San Francisco: City Lights Publishers.