Blog Posts for Tim Wise

The Avatar of Amnesia: Glenn Beck, Historical Memory and the Evil of Right-Wing Populism

Tim Wise — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:16:59 -0700

There is none so dangerous as the white American who waxes nostalgic about what he or she likes to call "the good old days." Or, alternately, those "simpler" times, or the era of so-called "innocence" remembered from their childhoods, memorialized in a Norman Rockwell painting, or via televised re-runs of the Cleaver family, or Opie Taylor casting a line down at the ...

Sociopathy on the Right: Ayn Rand and the Triumph of Conservative Cultism

Tim Wise — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:17:09 -0700

At first it seemed little more than a bizarre rant, only slightly worse than those to which we've grown accustomed, given the source. To wit, Rush Limbaugh, who on September 11 condemned President Obama for speaking that day about community service, and encouraging young people to become involved in service projects as a way to help make America a better place. Far from seeing such a call as a ...

The Afrikaner Party Draws First Blood: Van Jones, Barack Obama and the Audacity of Capitulation

Tim Wise — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:08:17 -0700

Van Jones, special advisor to the President's Council on Environmental Quality, has resigned from the administration. To be honest, he was forced out. Oh, perhaps not directly, but if not, then by the stunning silence of his employer. An employer more concerned about appeasing the right-wing bullies who sought to make Jones a liability for him, than about standing up for a brilliant thinker on ...

Being Called a Liar by Bill O'Reilly is Like Being Called Wet by Rain: White Denial and Racism at the Missouri Town Hall Meeting

Tim Wise — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:52:53 -0700

Apparently it doesn't take much to get under the skin of conservative talk show hosts. First, there was Rush Limbaugh, attacking me for my comments earlier this week on CNN. He called me a liar for claiming that he had said President Obama hated white people, and he was even more inflamed by my suggestion that the founders of the country had believed in white supremacy. I answered his ...

Fact-Checking and Correcting Rush Limbaugh (Or, Reflections on the Easiest Thing I'll Do All Day)

Tim Wise — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:33:27 -0700

Today is a glorious day indeed. First, our youngest daughter began kindergarten this morning, amidst great excitement and enthusiasm, and was walked to her classroom by her big sister (in 2nd grade), who felt especially "adult" for getting to do that, I'm sure.And secondly, because yesterday afternoon, Rush Limbaugh attacked me on air. The afterglow, as they say, is still with ...

Racism, Right-Wing Rage and the Politics of White Nostalgia

Tim Wise — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:15:03 -0700

"How dare you say this is about racism!"And a pleasant Monday to you too sunshine, I thought, as I stared at my computer screen this morning, reading over the first e-mail of the day.It was from someone who had apparently seen my presentation on CNN last night, in which I explained why racism is indeed a driving force behind the outpouring of anger we've been seeing at the various ...

Sick Heil: Racial Paranoia, White Victimology and the Hitlerizing of Obama

Tim Wise — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:23:16 -0700

If you get a chance, today or perhaps tomorrow, do yourself a favor. Look up some file footage, perhaps on YouTube, of Adolf Hitler, addressing his followers. I know, it doesn't sound like the best way to spend your day, or even a few minutes of it, but trust me, there's a point to the recommendation. While you watch, notice the unhinged shouting, the wild eyes, the veins on his neck, the ...

Red-Baiting and Racism: Socialism as the New Black Bogeyman

Tim Wise — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:11:55 -0700

Throughout the first six months of his administration, President Obama--perhaps one of the most politically cautious leaders in contemporary history--has been routinely portrayed as a radical by his opponents on the far-right. In particular, persons who have apparently never actually studied Marxism (or if they did, managed to somehow find therein support for such things as bailing out banks and ...

Rationalizing Racial Oppression: How the Right Misuses Crime Data to Justify Unequal Policing

Tim Wise — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:09:17 -0700

It is understandable that honest and decent people may disagree about the circumstances surrounding the arrest last week of Henry Louis Gates Jr. in Cambridge. For some, Gates was to blame for what happened. He became belligerent with Sgt James Crowley, and thus precipitated his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct. Others point out that being belligerent to an officer does not meet the legal ...

Denial is a River, Wider Than the Charles: Racism and Implicit Bias in Cambridge

Tim Wise — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:32:53 -0700

If you wish to gaze upon the depth and breadth of America's racial divide--particularly the canyon-like gulf between white folks and black folks--you need look no further than the recent incident involving Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., Cambridge police officer James Crowley, and now, President Obama who weighed in on the matter a few nights ago, when asked for his reaction to Gates's ...