" If whites saw racial inequity and injustice as evils that damage the entire society (including us), we would think of this matter differently, and no doubt more productively. "

The math here is hard to do. Granted that racism imposes a system-wide cost, the perpetrators of racism may, because it "elevates" them, be materially better off with it than without it. The case still needs to be made that White people would benefit if racism disappeared. That claim can be stated, and it may be true, but where is it persuasively argued? Not here.

I would argue that the case cannot be made with sufficient force to change enough White minds to matter. If so, then Black people are best advised to ACT AS IF racism were "their" problem, because it's real easy to make the case that they suffer from it and much harder to make the case that White people do. Black people thus miss the chance to act if they wait for White people to get with the program.

In addition to the good points Mr. Wise makes about shame, one big obstacle to anti-racist action by Whites is the Sisyphusian futility of it. No one is prepared to tell us how we will know that racism is over and we can stop "doing the work." I can accept the reply "the work is never over," but then, there's a good chance that too many White people will simply choose not to do it. So we're back to "It's their fault, but it's our problem."