Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) by Tim Wise

Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) Reviews

• 
  Benjamin

  This pro-affirmative-action book was well-reviewed, but I found it pretty much a waste of time. In general, a lot of very well researched statistics are spent in taking cheap shots at straw men.
  
  Wise also throws around phrases like "the right" (meaning, I assume, some faceless amalgamation of all those who disagree with his politics), and uses a lot of ironic quotation marks when he talks about affirmative action opponents who present "facts" and "proofs" in support of their positions. This sarcastic and distracting tone made it difficult to follow what arguments there were in the text.
  
  Clearly Wise is passionate about his subject, but if he hopes to be convincing he needs to focus less on angrily debunking the crazy things some people say and more on building a solid foundation for his own position.
  
  This is a book best enjoyed by people who already believe strongly in the value of affirmative action; for them, it will no doubt be an (ahem) affirmation. For reasonable opponents or those seeking a convincing argument, this book will be a disappointment.
  
  
• 
  Erika

  I have my own concerns about affirmative action, but I also tend to get nervous when people somewhat rabidly call for its dismantling and complain about the unfairness of it. I lack the ability, however, to verbalize why I am critical of it on the one hand but feel that it's necessary on the other. I am not finished reading Wise's book yet, but what he is doing is giving me the words that I lack for why affirmative action is needed. What very few people (be they critics or supporters of affirmative action) seem to address or acknowledge is the reality of white privilege in the US and how it confers an advantage upon those who happen to be born white. Wise says in one part of the book that people use the terms "disadvantanged" and "under-represented" easily, but don't seem to realize that there is another side to those coins: if some is disadvantaged, then someone else is "advantaged," etc.
  
  I am only about halfway through at this point, but I am finding it to be a very interesting and thought-provoking read.
• 
  Beth

  Tim Wise does it again... Here's a very readable academic book with a carefully constructed argument for affirmative action that is simultaneously complex, straightforward in philosophy (guided by a strong sense of social justice), dryly humorous in places, and beautifully written. Wise doesn't have a PhD as far as I know, and he puts most academic writers to shame with his clear, accessible prose and care with citations (he backs up his points with tons of research results). Almost as good as his brilliant memoir-cum-call-to-action, White Like Me>, which is one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read.
• 
  El Dubbs

  This was very well-articulated. I would have given a higher rating were it not for the pages of statistics-- I know it's necessary to back up the arguments with such research, but I find my brain turning off during those parts. I love the clear citations and how the arguments flow point-by-point in a clearly organized fashion. There is much to be said for accesible language and writing styles! (Academics, are you listening?)
• 
  Cherie

  B Brilliant look at affirmative action. To all those people who say, "I didn't get into school/this job/whatever b/c someone of color took it from me" - read this so you can debate them. Really shows how even when affirmative action exists, white privilege still pushes white people miles ahead of people of color. Great book.
• 
  Misha

  Another must read for European-Americans. Points out a lot of flaws with the arguments against affirmative action. This is by no means a way to get unqualified people into spots based solely on the color of their skin.
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  Expose Austin Texas Duty To Care For Others

  Another excellent book that discusses discrimination against minorities.