Tim Wise: Post-racial America? Not Even Close

09/24/2009 at 8:00 p.m.

Barack Obama is president, so racism in America is over, right? Not so fast, says Tim Wise. He's spent the last 15 years writing and speaking out against racism and the privileged status he enjoys as a white person. Wise says President Obama's election is meaningful: a qualified black man who has two years to interview for the country's top job can get it. But what does it mean for the lives of everyday Americans of color? Wise says racism is still alive and well in this country. He urges whites to work with people of color to defeat it.

Tim Wise is the author of four books including his most recent, "Between Barack and a Hard Place: Race and Whiteness in the Age of Obama." He has spoken at more than 400 colleges and universities and has conducted anti–racist trainings for teachers, law enforcement, military, health care and corporate workers. Wise spoke at Mount Zion Baptist Church on April 28, 2009 in an event sponsored by the ACLU of Washington and the Bush School Diversity Speaker Series.