Tim Wise Quotes & Sayings

“For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion, let alone an exercise in irrational conspiracy theorizing. Rather, it speaks to a social reality about which blacks are acutely aware.”

“Mass media over-represents persons of color in negative ways, especially as criminals, relative to the share of crime actually done by such persons.”

“Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are literally millions of human beings whose lives have been snuffed out by people who conquered under the banner of a white god.”

“There are lots of research, of course, saying that a vast majority of us have been exposed to racial biases and stereotypes and, to some extent, we've internalized them, because that's so ubiquitous. That's why I'm so bored with the conversation about who's a racist and who's not.”

“To believe that the United States is post-racial requires an almost incomprehensible inability or unwillingness to stare truth in the face.”

“As a writer, there are times when you have something to say, and yet no particular 'hook' upon which to hang the missive you are burning to release.”

“Jesus was not born in a manger in central Pennsylvania. He was a man of color. And the fact that we have represented him for centuries literally as a white man speaks to the entire history of white supremacy.”

“In short, and let us be clear on it: race is not a card. It determines whom the dealer is, and who gets dealt.”

“Progress is always relative: to the oppressed, it can only be viewed as an all or nothing deal - if oppression continues, even in a modified form, then the system must still be attacked until that injustice is eradicated.”

“Sadly, whites are rarely open to what black and brown folks have to say regarding their ongoing experiences with racist mistreatment. And we are especially reluctant to discuss what that mistreatment means for us as whites: namely that we end up with more and better opportunities as the flipside of discrimination.”