Tim Wise* is one of the most prominent white, anti-racist voices in the United States.  On May 6, 2003 he spoke on "Examining White Privilege" at Greenfield Community College.  Videos of his presentation are available for viewing at the GCC Library.  Mr. Wise, the author of books, essays, and articles on the subject of white privilege, has stated: 

"The ability to believe that being black would have made no difference . . . and that being white has made no positive difference, is rooted in privilege itself: the privilege that allows one to not have to think about race on a daily basis". (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15209, 4/18/03)

According to Gregory Jay, "for white people, race functions as a large ensemble of practices and rules that give white people all sorts of small and large advantages in life."  (http://www.uwm.edu/%7Egjay/Whiteness/Whitenesstalk.html, 4/24/03)

The following resources have been compiled to support further study on the issue of white privilege and its relationship to questions of race, politics, and culture. 

Suggested Books in the GCC Library

• Becoming and Unbecoming White:  Owning and Disowning a Racial Identity / Christine Clark and James O'Donnell (eds).  Westport, Conn:  Bergin & Garvey, 1999.  E184.A1 B29 1999.  

• Bridge Over the Racial Divide:  Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics / William Julius Wilson.  Berkeley:  University of California Press, c1999.  E185.615 W545 1999.

• The Color of Welfare:  How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty / Jill Quadrango.  NY:  Oxford University Press. 1994.   HN59 .Q28 1994.

• The Color of Words:  An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States / Philip H. Herbst. Yarmouth, Me., USA:  Intercultural Press, [1997].  Ref. E184.A1 H466 1997.

• Everyday Acts Against Racism:  Raising Children in a Multiracial World / Maureen Reddy, (ed).  WA:  Seal Press, 1996.  BF723.P75 E94 1996.

• Everyday Racism:  a Book for All Americans / Annie S. Barnes.  Naperville, Ill.:  Sourcebooks, 2000.  E185.86 .B3735 2000.

• Everyday Racism:  Reports from Women of two Cultures / Philomena Essed; trans. from the Dutch by Cynthia Jaffe.  Claremont, CA:  Hunter House, c1990.  DJ92.S8 E67 1990.

• Faces of Environmental Racism:  Confronting Issues of Global Justice / Laura Westra and Peter S. Wenz (eds).  Lanham, Md.:  Rowman & Littlefield, c1995.  GE180.F33 1995.

• The First R:  How Children Learn Race and Racism / Debra Van Ausdale and Joe R. Feagin.   Lanham, Md:  Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.  HQ784 .S56 V36 2001.

• Invisible Privilege:  a Memoir About Race, Class, and Gender / Paula Rothenberg. Lawrence:  University Press of Kansas, 2000.   E185.615 .R68 2000.

• Killing Rage:  Ending Racism / Bell Hooks.   New York:  H. Holt and Co., 1995.  E185.615 H645 1995.

• My First White Friend:  Confessions on Race, Love, and Forgiveness / Patricia Raybon. New York:  Viking, 1996.   E185.615 .R35 1996.

• A Promise and a Way of Life:  White Antiracist Activism / Becky Thompson.  Minneapolis:  University of Minnesota Press, 2001.  E185.98.A1 T48 2001.

• Race Matters / Cornell West.  Boston:  Beacon Press, 1993.  E185.615 W43 1993.

• Racism:  Essential Readings / Ellis Cashmore and James Jennings (eds).  London :  SAGE, 2001.   HT1521 .R334 2001.

• Salvation:  Black People and Love / Bell Hooks.  New York:  William Morrow, 2001.   E185.86 .H739 2001.

• Skin Deep:  Black Women and White Women Write About Race / Marita Golden and Susan Richards Shreve (eds).  New York:  Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1995.  E185.86 S6 1995.

• White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training / Judy H. Katz. Norman:  University of Oklahoma Press, c1978.  HT1523.K37 1987.

• White Awareness:  Handbook for Anti-Racism Training / Judy H. Katz.  Norman:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.  HT1523.K37 1987.

• White Trash:  Race and Class in America / Matt Wray and Annalee Newitz (eds).  New York:  Routledge, 1997.  E184.A1 W397 1997.

• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race / Beverly Daniel Tatum.  New York:  BasicBooks, c1999.  E185.625 T38 1999.

• Yearning:  Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics / Bell Hooks.  Boston, MA:  South End Press, 1990.  E185.86 .H742 1990.

Videos in the GCC Library

• Blue eyed / Denkmal Filmproductions ; produced by Claus Strigel and Bertram Verhaag ; written and directed by Bertram Verhaag ; in cooperation with Jane Elliott.  BF575 .P9 B48 1996 
  Jane Elliott conducts a workshop where an arbitrarily selected group of individuals is targeted to experience prejudice and bigotry. Based on the blue eyed-brown eyed exercise.

• A Class divided / Consortium of Public Television Stations ; [produced by] Yale University Films ; producer and director, William Peters.  LC212.22.I5 C5 1985 
  Documents a reunion of Iowa teacher Jane Elliott and her third-grade class of 1970, subjects that year of an ABC News television documentary entitled the Eye of the storm. Shows how her experimental curriculum on the evils of discrimination had a lasting effect on the lives of the students. 

• The essential blue eyed : 50 minute trainer's edition and 36 minute debriefing / Denkmal Filmproduction ; produced by Claus Strigel and Bertram Verhaag ; written and directed by Bertram Verhaag.  BF575.P9 E8 1999
  Jane Elliott conducts a diversity training workshop where an arbitrarily selected group of individuals is targeted to experience prejudice and bigotry. The workshop is based on the blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise.

• Examining White Privilege / a presentation by Tim Wise at GCC, May 6, 2003.  Available on reserve at the Circulation Desk.

• Ethnic notions / producer, director, writer, Marlon T. Riggs  E185.61 .E77 1987
  Covering more than one hundred years of United States history, traces the evolution of Black American caricatures and their role in political and social conflicts concerning race.

• The Eye of the storm / ABC News, ABC Media Concepts ; produced & written by William Peters ; director, William Peters.  LC212.22 .I8 E8 E94 1970
  Award winning documentary records an innovative experiment in which a third-grade teacher divides her all-white class into "blue-eyes" and "brown-eyes," making each group superior or inferior on successive days. Demonstrates the nature and effects of bigotry by showing changes brought about in their behavior and learning patterns.

• Racism 101 / written and produced by Thomas Lennon.  F575.A1 R32 1988
  Frontline focuses on the racism problems at the University of Michigan campus. 

• The Shadow of hate : a history of intolerance / a film by Charles Guggenheim and Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.  E184.A1 S545 1995
  A documentary that examines 3 centuries of American history to understand America's history of intolerance.

• Skin deep / Iris Films.  HT1521 .S538 1995 
  A diverse group of college students reveal their honest fellings and attitudes about race and racism. Students are interviewed alone, and then discuss the issues in a group setting. 

To locate other books or videos in the GCC Library, try a subject search in the library catalog (CW/MARS) for the following subject headings:

Racism, Race awareness, Race discrimination, Whites -- race identity, Whites in popular culture, United States -- race relations, Reverse discrimination, Equality before the law, Interracial marriage, Social conflict, Prejudices, Discrimination