Anti-racist advocate and writer Tim Wise presented a lecture on economic and racial disparity Feb. 28 at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren at 6:30 p.m.
He has spoken on college campuses and has written seven books on the topic of racial inequality, the most recent being “Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America.” He referenced this book throughout his lecture.
Wise started off the lecture by stating the thesis of his book: “We are too quick to venerate the rich but look down on the poor.”
He then referenced President Donald Trump as a prime example of this idea. He went on to explain that people voted for Trump because he brought something new. Wise argues that Trump’s ideology is, in fact, not new.
To demonstrate this, Wise gave some historical context. He explained how during the colonial period, wealthy landlords realized they were outnumbered by blacks and poor whites.
To convince the poor whites to not join forces with the blacks and rebel, landlords pitted the two groups against each other. The landlords manipulated the poor whites by telling them that they too could own slaves one day if they sided with the wealthier whites.
According to Wise, Trump uses this ideology today by blaming immigrants for stealing U.S. jobs. Wise went on to emphasize the point that “people telling us our enemies are black and brown people is not new.”
Next, Wise talked about the economic disparity we see today that stems from a similar ideology.
As Americans we believe that “if you work hard, then you can make it,” Wise said. However, if you do not make it, then it is your fault and you did not work hard enough.
Wise argued this is not a good viewpoint to have. Wise explained how no one succeeds completely on their own. Everybody has some type of privilege whether it is due to their race, gender or their financial situation.
Wise ended his talk by explaining the negative effects of the ideology that the people on top are superior to those below.
Wise argued that such an ideology can lead to white supremacy, classism and even sexism. Not understanding the context from which this ideology comes leads to the denial that there is anything wrong.
Wise pointed out how this denial is also hurting the people on top. He used the opioid crisis as an example of the negative effects of our denial.
He explained how when blacks were dealing with it, our society locked them up and treated them like criminals. As soon as the crisis started to affect white people, our society got involved and started trying to find treatments.
Wise pointed out the irony in the fact that if we had taken the issue seriously before, we might have better treatments now.
Wise also talked about how the sense of white supremacy is making our society believe that racial inequality is something we do not have to deal with.
The sentiment that “we just can’t do any better is nonsense,” Wise said.
The lecture concluded with a question and answer segment. One of the questions was how Wise became interested in the topic of social justice.
His answer focused on his experiences of being a white man from Tennessee. Along with his experiences, his belief that whites need to take responsibility and save themselves from this disparity influenced how he got to where he is today.
Another question asked was, “What we can do to change this?” Wise gave the advice of trying to “push back on the narrative.”
Right now, the narrative is that people on the bottom deserve to be there. Wise mentioned one way to help change the narrative is to reflect on how we got to where we are today and share it with others. Wise said that this would allow us to humble ourselves and not be so quick to look down on others. There were three more questions asked.
The lecture was part of the Spector Social Justice series and was sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The next event they will hold is HerStory — A Celebration of Women in History Sunday, March 18 at 3 p.m. in Gibble Auditorium.
