Published soon after President Obama’s inauguration in 2009, Tim Wise’s book, Between Barack and a Hard Place, argues that contrary to the belief generally held by many white Americans, the election of our nation’s first African-American president was not even close to signifying the end of racism in the United States. Wise suggests that instead of indicating a victory over racism, the election of Barack Obama may even signal the emergence of an entirely new type of racism altogether. In the interest of debunking contemporary white denial, Between Barack and a Hard Place investigates different forms racism present in employment, housing, education, and criminal justice and the law in order to expose the reality of modern racism. In correspondence
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Although it is true that people of color are no longer discriminated against by laws that enforce racial segregation within schools and the work place, the progress that was made from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement had only skimmed the surface of a deeply embedded, racist American system. While the traditionally overt bigotry that has shaped white opinion since the founding of our nation has receded during the latter half of the 20th century, people of color are continually disadvantaged by disguised discrimination and a disproportionate inequity of opportunity. In regard to the peculiar inability of whites to recognize modern day racism Wise explains, “Because we are so used to thinking of racism as the traditional rejectionism and blatant bigotry of the past, we sometimes miss the subtle ways in which racism has shape-shifted to fit more comfortably within a modern context” (Wise 88). One reason why this modern-day racism is so difficult for white folks to detect is because it has cleverly shape-shifted to adopt the white perspective as the accepted norm. Interestingly enough, it is exactly the undistinguishable nature of racism 2.0 which allows it to operate undisturbed within the structure of
Although it is true that people of color are no longer discriminated against by laws that enforce racial segregation within schools and the work place, the progress that was made from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement had only skimmed the surface of a deeply embedded, racist American system. While the traditionally overt bigotry that has shaped white opinion since the founding of our nation has receded during the latter half of the 20th century, people of color are continually disadvantaged by disguised discrimination and a disproportionate inequity of opportunity. In regard to the peculiar inability of whites to recognize modern day racism Wise explains, “Because we are so used to thinking of racism as the traditional rejectionism and blatant bigotry of the past, we sometimes miss the subtle ways in which racism has shape-shifted to fit more comfortably within a modern context” (Wise 88). One reason why this modern-day racism is so difficult for white folks to detect is because it has cleverly shape-shifted to adopt the white perspective as the accepted norm. Interestingly enough, it is exactly the undistinguishable nature of racism 2.0 which allows it to operate undisturbed within the structure of