What They're Saying About
"Tim Wise is one of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation. His considerable rhetorical skills, his fluid literary gifts and his relentless search for the truth make him a critical ally in the fight against racism and a true soldier in the war for social justice. His writing and thinking constitute a bulwark of common sense, and uncommon wisdom, on the subject of race, politics and culture. He is a national treasure." ---Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of African-American and Religious Studies University of Pennsylvania, and best-selling author of nine books, including, Race Rules, Holler if You Hear Me, and Between God and Gangsta Rap
"The fate of this country depends on whites like yourself speaking the truth to those who don't want to hear it. In this, you are as one with the Biblical prophets. You are more likely to be condemned than lauded, and yet your words are no less important. So, keep speaking out. At the very least, some future archeologists sifting through the ashes of this civilization may be able to find evidence that there were some who offered truth as a cure for the disease that destroyed us." ---Derrick Bell, Professor of Law, New York University, and one of the world's leading scholars on race and the legal system, as well as best-selling author of several books on race, email to Wise, June, 2004
"Tim Wise is one of those rare 'public intellectuals' that numerous authors have suggested are becoming extinct in this society. He is evidence that this is not the case...in my judgment, he is the very best of the white anti-racism writers and commentators working in the U.S. media today..." ---Joe Feagin, Graduate Research Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M, and author of over twenty books on race issues
"(Wise's) work is revolutionary, and those who react negatively are simply afraid of hearing the truth..." ---Robin D.G. Kelley, Professor of History, University of Southern California, author of Race Rebels, and Yo' Mama's Disfunktional!
"One of the brilliant voices of our time." ---Molefi Kete Asante, Professor of African American Studies, Temple University, author of several dozen books on race, history and culture, and creator of the first doctoral program in African American Studies in the U.S.
"Wise is the nation's leading antiracist author/activist..." ---David Naguib Pellow, professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California--San Diego.
"(His) is the clearest thinking on race I've seen in a long while written by a white writer...right up there with the likes of historians Howard Zinn and Herb Aptheker as far as I'm concerned." ---Dr. Joyce King, Associate Provost, Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, NY
"(Wise is) the foremost white, anti-racist intellectual and activist in the nation." ---Tom Mayer, Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado-Boulder.
"By far one of the most powerful and influential speakers I have heard in my lifetime. I cannot think of anyone else who can keep the attention of any audience as long...his insight and knowledge is amazing, and his ability to apply the issues such as race, privilege and discrimination into the reality of everyday life is nothing less than astonishing." ---Michael Benitez, Jr., Director of Diversity Initiatives, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
"As an African American, I hold my breath while reading stuff from white folks -- even those who seem to be okay -- because they can suddenly take a right turn on you when you least expect it. I gotta tell you: I have stopped holding my breath with you. Your stuff is great: extremely readable, absolutely on target and always based in our every day reality. Thanks so much!" ---Judy Richardson, award-winning filmmaker, former organizer with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and key civil rights activist in the South during the 1960's, e-mail to Wise, September, 2000
"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your great work...(you are) a most brilliant God-endowed genius and human LIBERATOR; a modern-day Thomas Paine, William Lloyd Garrison, Thaddeus Stevens, Frederick Douglass----all 'reincarnated' or combined into one great LIVING soul...I am speechless..." ---Dr. Gyasi A. Foluke, consultant, writer and retired professor of Black Studies, email to Wise, July 2001.
"I was more than moved by your speech...I felt renewed in my own struggle...I and the invisible ones you will probably never meet, along with their children and children to come, will feel the ripples of your work. I was healed by your talk. I have coined a nickname for you: 'The Modern Day John Brown.' May our Ancestors protect and bless you along the path with the fortitude and courage to continue in your destiny." ---Ta'Shia Asanti, writer/activist, letter to Wise after speech at Colorado Affirmative Action Summit, February, 2000
"You have a God given gift to drive home truth to the people in power and control of this country...Keep striving to do the right thing, without fear or trepidation. You are a visionary." ---Ginevra A. Hightower, Kansas City General Services Administration, letter to Wise, October, 1999
"Thank heavens for your brave white antiracist voice!" ---Dorothy Zellner, former Steering Committee member, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and civil rights movement legend, letter to Wise, April, 2001
"Your presentation changed minds, and strengthened others in their commitment to leading antiracist lives. You are a role model to white students and evidence to students of color that whites can see their privilege and work against it." ---Arlene Avakian, Professor of Women's Studies, University of Massachusetts, Spring 2000 e-mail to Wise
"...My co-author Jean Stefancic and I love your editorials. I really like your work!" ---Richard Delgado, Professor of Law, Colorado University and one of the nation's leading theorists on race and the legal system, letter to Wise, September, 1999
"...a thorn in the side of white supremacists...dedicated whites such as Wise are rare..." ---Dr. Ray Winbush, Director, Fisk University Race Relations Institute, in his 2001 book from HarperCollins, The Warrior Method: A Program for Rearing Healthy Black Boys
"I have admired your activism and scholarship for years. This spring, I attended a talk you gave at Occidental College...I was co-teaching a course and students were urged to attend. Afterwards, I noticed a transformation in my students' attitudes...I found them infinitely more receptive, open-minded and critical, and there was a direct correlation between hearing you speak and their progress. I wanted to let you know the impact your work has-- thanks for being such a motivating force toward social transformation." ---Laura Kuo, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, Pomona College, e-mail to Wise, May, 2002.
"Tim is the answer to Rush Limbaugh...The only difference-- Tim does his homework. And when he cuts loose, there's no way the right can compete..." ---Ted Quandt, Director, Twomey Center for Peace Through Justice, Loyola University, New Orleans
"...One of the most prolific speakers I've encountered. I heard students proclaim that Tim's presentation changed their attitudes and helped them make a commitment to get involved with changing the system." ---Elva Jones, Director of Diversity, Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Nebraska, October, 1998
"I consider myself a fan of yours. More than just your writing, I applaud your message. Yours is a valuable contribution to my life, being a writer and aspiring political satirist myself...you have impacted my section of the universe. From the bottom of my soul...thank you." ---Jesse Myerson, age 15, high school student, Montrose, NY, e-mail to Wise, May, 2001
"When I saw a white male get up to speak about racism, I had reservations. But you knocked me over, (and) not just because you are a forceful speaker. What it was, was seeing a young white male picking up the torch and committing himself to the struggle." ---B. Allan Benson, Director Rocky Mountain Office, National Labor Relations Board, letter to Wise, January, 1999
"People are still talking about your presentation...Many of those who attended, of all races, are telling me how much they learned...A few people told me that you are the best speaker on the topic of white privilege that they have ever heard..." ---Pelonomie Khumoetsile-Taylor, Director, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Bunker Hill Community College, letter to Wise, April 3, 2003
"Tim challenged and invigorated our students...You could hear a pin drop...Never have I seen a speaker keep 400 high school students so captivated...He was awesome!!" ---Darren Ford, multicultural coordinator, and Allison Hamilton, VP Student Government, The McDonough School, McDonough, Maryland, April 16, 1996
"I find your work on racism and white privilege to be among the finest out there. It has served as a primary tool in my own efforts at self-education and personal struggle to neutralize my own racism. I have also used your work copiously in some of the classes I teach. I cannot say enough about the admiration I have for your work..." ---Matthew Smith, Graduate Assistant, Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail to Wise, September 2000.
"I am very impressed by your recent writing on white privilege...Your anti-racism is inspiring." ---Clarence J. Munford, Professor Emeritus of History and Black Studies, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, e-mail to Wise, 5/2003
"We have received nothing but positive feedback about your talk. Just last week, a friend commented to me that your speech served as the perfect antidote to the 'crap we learn in law school every day'...we could not have made a better choice for our opening speaker." ---Anju Gupta, Director, 2002 Rebellious Lawyering Conference, Yale Law School, 3/6/02
"I for one (and I know of others), deeply appreciate your timely commentaries and interventions in the public discourse...thanks for all that you have contributed to the struggle for racial and social justice." ---Rod Bush, Assistant Professor of Sociology, St. Johns University, e-mail to Wise, July 2003.
"I've been reading your essays on ZNet for a few years now and I just wanted to tell you that you are one of the few people whose opinions I've never disagreed with. A couple of other people in that category are Salim Muwakil of In These Times, and Noam Chomsky...I enjoy the ideas in your essays, and your clarity, directness, rational logic, the organization of your ideas, and the statistics you use...I'm just a 57 year old dentist, who talks to people about racism when I can, and I do it better now because of you." ---Dan Turner, D.D.S., Monterey, CA, e-mail to Wise, August, 2003.
"You are to be commended for your brave stance against apartheid. If more young people followed your lead, the world would be a better place..." ---Whoopi Goldberg, letter to Wise during Tulane anti-apartheid hunger strike, 4/90
"I'll tell you, if he was running for this office, I'd probably vote for him..." ---Jim McPherson, advisor to candidate David Duke, during 1990 debate with Wise prior to U.S. Senate election
...And a few Special Compliments
"No, I won't debate him. He is a leftist extremist..."---Neo-Nazi, David Duke, explaining to a New Orleans radio station why he wouldn't debate Wise on-air, 5/91
"(Wise is) my Jewish supremacist detractor...following the old Jewish tactic of divide and conquer...people like Wise actually hate all European ethnic groups. They seek to divide us and weaken us in our quest for our heritage and rights."---David Duke, email to a question posed about Wise by a third party, forwarded to Wise, December 30, 2002
"Tim Wise is pretty much the Uncle Tom of the white race..."---Dinesh D'Souza, best-selling conservative author, during debates with Wise at San Francisco State and Evergreen State College, apparently frustrated with losing both, Oct/Nov, 1996
"People like Tim Wise are anti-white hate merchants...carefully selected as a front man by the Jewish deception engineers...He appears to be just another white male...But Tim Wise is a member of that very special nation--the nation/religion/race which owns virtually the entire media of the Western world."--From fliers of the neo-Nazi Euro-American Student Union, distributed during Wise speeches in Washington State, 10/98
"Tim Wise is an agent of this (Jewish) subversion of the integrity of the majority (white) group..."---From flyer of the neo-Nazi National Alliance (Seattle chapter), "The Real Interests of Tim Wise, Anti-White Propagandist," January, 2003
"It is white race traitor scum such as you who sicken this country. You obviously hate that you are white and are willing to sell your heritage for a piece of the nigger/kike pie...Your time is limited and you know it...the Jews seem to be behind you, lubing you up and you have no problem with it...You're guilty of all the ungodly characteristics of a Jew."---Assorted comments to or about Wise by members of the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP), on the NAAWP Internet message board, March 1999.
"You are a very destructive individual...racial paranoia is an industry, and its too bad people with your intelligence seem to feel obligated to make it a growth industry as well...your analysis is intellectually paranoid."---David Horowitz, leading conservative author, activist, and amateur psychologist, during e-mail exchanges with Wise in which he claimed there were "no racial barriers" still in existence for blacks in America, September, 2000.
"You anarchists know minorities are too dumb to run a business: that's why you support overthrowing the system...you are full of shit asswipe...you are really a colored-loving commie bastard aren't you?"---Andreas Munger, very angry white man, e-mail to Wise, March, 2000
"You may not be a communist, but you're definitely a Marxist!"---Babs Minhinette Wilson, former National Information Director, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, to Wise during anti-David Duke rally, Louisiana state capitol, Baton Rouge, March, 1989
"You're pathetic. Maybe someday we will meet and it will be my pleasure to kick your left-wing liberal ass." ---John Courtney, member, Sons of Confederate Veterans, e-mail to Wise, June, 2000
"He's viciously anti-white and anti-American. Why doesn't he speak about the things that are good with America?"---Acalanes High School (Lafayette, CA) parent, protesting Wise's speech there, March, 1998
"I don't think you recognize your power. I think you could stand on a table in the lunchroom, and tell the students to burn the building down, and they might do it."---An actual statement to Wise by Harry Brunson, Assistant Principal, Hillsboro High School (Nashville), March, 1985, when Wise, then 16, blasted the school's dress code in the underground campus paper.
Tim Wise