Race in America Contd. Exploring Further Questions

For your next post, you are going to broaden your look at the issues associated with race relations in the United States. Thus, please take some time and read some of the stories listed at the websites linked below. Take your time going through the articles. After reading a few from each site, post a response to your work on your blog. What strikes you? How do these match up with your thoughts and ideas from any of the other materials we've studied during this unit?  What else do you want to know about any of these topics? 
CNN: Black in America
Chicago Tribune: Exploring Race

Affirmative Action

For today, finish reading the affirmative action packet from class then, check this article from today's San Francisco Chronicle.  When finished, write a post that describes your opinions on affirmative action in university admission policies.  Make sure you consider Tim Wise's "Whites Swim in Racial Preference" response to the University of Michigan's policy as well as the other materials from the packet.  Ultimately, should race be a factor in college admissions?  Be sure to use specifics from the materials given to support your point of view.  This will be a graded post.

Wrongful Convictions

On Tuesday, February 14, we will have the opportunity to hear form Terrill Swift, a member of the "Englewood Four", a group of men who were wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a Chicago woman in 1994 after confessing to it as juveniles.  Please go to the Center on Wrongful Convictions website in order to learn about this and other cases of wrongful conviction prior to our speaker on Tuesday.  Feel free to blog your initial responses for this week (you will definitely be blogging your reactions to the speaker on Tuesday).

"White Like Me"

The description of Tim Wise's book, White Like Me on Amazon states, "Racial privilege shapes the lives of white Americans in every facet of life, from employment and education to housing and criminal justice. Using stories from his own life, Tim Wise shows that racism not only burdens people of color, but also benefits those who are "white like him" — whether or not they’re actively racist. Using stories instead of stale statistics, Wise weaves a compelling narrative that assesses the magnitude of racial privilege and is at once readable and scholarly, analytical yet accessible."
Based on the chapter you read, do you agree with these assertions? Does racism and privelege benefit whites?  Did you think the chapter was convincing even though it used anecdotal rather than statistical evidence?  How does your own personal experience match up or relate to what Wise describes?
Use DETAILS and SPECIFICS from your reading to support your response.