Whites Swim in Racial Preference

Introduction

With the beauty of life, every person has a right to enjoy the necessities deemed to be basic in life. Since this is a privilege, every man or woman, child or adult has these rights when they are alive and walking on the face of the earth. There should be no factors preventing people to enjoy these rights. In the society we are living in though, most people do not even understand the meaning of the word equality. Racism is a common scenario in our society as white and black people fight for opportunities and resources. This paper discusses the article by Tim Wise titled Whites Swim in Racial Preference. In the discussion part of this paper, the points given prove the truthfulness and reliability of his paper using the views quoted by the writer of the article. Tim Wise attempts to make highlights on issues in the society that may somehow cause robust effects on the society we live in at the end.

The article by Tim Wise actively brings forth the idea that whites obtain many favours and advantages and still discard the impression that blacks live in ignorance and neglect (Wise, 2003). This commencement is a sign of relativism, a core concept in sociology. According to Tim Wise, the most critical problem caused by racism is the hesitance people have of admitting its existence. Members of the domineering groups do not notice that something is amiss since they do not see the injustices being imposed upon their counterparts. This is connected to the state where one sees things going around them but is oblivious of these things until they are forced to see them. It shows that things made available to white people are not necessarily directed to favour the white, but end up favouring them either consciously or otherwise.

In the U.S, social stratification is defined clearly as whites having greater status, power, and wealth than people of colour in the name of affirmative action. Whites inherit assets worth millions of dollars hence becoming wealthier than blacks. In this context, President Bush is a long-life beneficiary of affirmative action (Wise, 2003). The failure of the president to address the preferences given to white students excluding students of colour depicts social conflict theory. Availing something to children learning in rural schools means that only the students of the white origin will benefit from it. This is what Tim Wise terms as “favouring the white students subconsciously.” Putting in place things or places and showing that you favour them brings a disadvantage to black children without knowing.

Social control mechanism is evident according to Tim Wise. The most talented and coloured students fail to gain access to many incentives due to their place of living. The University of Michigan offers less points to a typical black, indigenous applicant in contrast to a white student offered extra points. It is a fact that location is directly linked to race. This is first seen as a racial preference, but secondly it is based on social inequality that dictates where people live, where they go to school and the afforded opportunities for their children (Wise, 2003).

Black parents have a lot less wealth as compared with their white counterparts. According to Wise (2003), whites inherit assets worth seven to ten million dollars from parents and grandparents, when the blacks cannot do the same thing. The financial status of the parents profoundly influences the white kids who gain wealth, support and tradition, which is a major reason the white population has held onto the property and created more wealth for the generations after them. The black children who are underprivileged find it hard to go up the social status ladder due to the prejudice and obstacles against them. This is made more difficult by the fact that they are born in a part of the society that is ranked lowly.

Even if white people became black, there would be no change in their life status. Changing someone’s identity does not take away their privileges. Incentives vary across identities. In the job market or any platform one is required to table their name. People discriminate any name that reminds them of coloured people. This could either be classified as discrimination or labelling. Coloured people are regarded as inappropriate to hold certain job positions. People are discriminated against on the basis of location or place where they live, school, their level of ignorance or the attention they get. This could influence one’s possibility of getting into a good college depending on his colour. Whether one is white or black determines how accessible resources are to him and is a significant step into tapping the dominant culture, and brings change into his life.

In conclusion, the quote on the fish not knowing the name of the water in which it swims brings up the issue of people taking for granted the incentives they possess. Having a female person in the presidential race does not give an indication that there is gender equality. Having President Obama, a “coloured” person, become president of the United States is not an indicator of equality amongst the races of the whole world. We are long overdue to claim the loss of power held by one culture and balancing it across all races, and other ethnic factors are even harder and will take longer than we think. Having that awareness and transiting it to other people is a big step taken towards the right direction on this journey of balancing racism.

References

Wise, T. (2003). Whites Swim in Racial Preference. Alternet. Retrieved 1 April 2015, from http://www.alternet.org/story/15223/whites_swim_in_racial_preference