Between Barack and a hard place

Tim Wise mentiond a lot of interesting things in his interview when he was discussing his book "Between Barack and a hard place". He made me take a step back and think; I concluded that he was right. Wise   argues that just beacuse we have a Black president, the subject of racial bias isn't totally gone. Just because Barack Obama is Black and is our president, it doesnt give Blacks more rights and doesn't take away the inequalities that still exist.

The main point that Wise was making was that until we stop talking about race, it will always be an issue. When civil rights are referred to as Black rights or as Gay rights or (insert word here) rights, it's creating a sense of exclusion. When people say "My president is half black...", I always think that he's also half white. Why is race the primary focus? Many people went out and only voted for President Obama because he is Black. Since when is that the best reason to vote for some one? I thought voting for our President would consist of looking at their politics and not their skin color.

Wise makes it clear that yes, President Obama is qualified for his position, but if he was a white man would the same result occur? This again reinforces the idea that it is actually a race issue. When it comes down to it, our own local elections are looking the same way. In Providence, Angel Taveras might be the first Hispanic elected into the position of Mayor. The word Hispanic is always the focus. Many people who fit into the minority category just voted for Angel Taveras because of his race. Once we stop looking for the categories a person fits in, we will be able to overcome the issue of discrimination on any level.


The link that I provided just talks about Between Barack in a hard place. I wasn’t sure what to find so I figured it doesn’t hurt to just look at more of Tim Wise's speeches.