Color Blindness Is The New Racism

My class this quarter on culture and equity in the classroom focused a lot on race and we learned a little bit about why colorblindness, when we're talking about race, is harmful in the classroom and in life. I had the opportunity to talk to my uncle about it over Thanksgiving. His original thought was that color blindness was something that was good, and meant that you saw everyone as the name and looked past their skin color and just saw the person they are.

If you are unfamiliar with the term of colorblindness, when it refers to race and the color of your skin, it basically means that you don't see the color of people. In theory, this seems great. It seems that if you can do this, you have overcome racial differences and race in general - and see only people and who they are inside.

But, it is actually detrimental to the goal of eliminating racism and segregation. If you claim that you see everyone the same, and you don't see race, you are claiming that you see everyone as of the same race: yours.

Colorblindness seeks to eliminate racism but it in fact creates more separation. Most white people can very easily ignore racism in our culture and call themselves "colorblind" meaning that they don't see race. This means they are ignoring the racial tensions that do still exist, and the only thing they are doing to combat that is saying that everyone is the same. Just calling everyone the same doesn't make them all the same.

Minorities experience racial tension very differently than most white people do. Since they are typically on the receiving end of the racism, it's nearly completely impossible to ignore. You will never hear a person of color calling themselves "colorblind". However, it's becoming increasingly popular among the language of many white people. Trying to ignore color is not going to get us anything but more racial tension.

When you think deeper about colorblindness, it suggests that there is something wrong with being "of color". If colorblindness equals peace, than people of color do not equal peace. It suggests that there is something wrong with having colored skin or being another nationality besides Caucasian. Colorblindness says that because you're not white, your race doesn't matter. A black person would never say to someone who is white, "I don't see color, I only see people for who they are on the inside." I'm sure there are exceptions, but just think about it. 

To call yourself colorblind, you are imposing that race doesn't matter. That if everyone was the SAME, we could all get along. That if we don't see race, we can live more peaceful lives and eliminate racism. However, any person of a minority nationality will tell you that race DOES matter. Even as a white female, I know my race matters. My race has to do partly with who I am as a person, due to my culture, family tree, and experiences I have due to my race. Because I'm white, I do see and experience things in a different way than minority races do. That's just the way it is.

Race can separate or bring together cultures. It doesn't have to be bad, just because it's there. We like to ignore it because talking about racial inequalities and things of this sort are awkward and uncomfortable. We can't ignore it just because it doesn't make us feel nice and bubbly inside. Differences in cultures - such as race, ethnicity, holidays celebrated, etc., should be CELEBRATED, not ignored. They should be viewed as SPECIAL, not scary, just because they're different. The only way different races and ethnicities will be totally unified, is when everyone treats every race as important, special, and worthy. We won't get anywhere by ignoring these differences.

How about instead of not seeing culture, we don't see the stereotypes and messages that are attached to the skin color. How about we see people for who they ARE - their whole person, on the inside and what is on the outside, because what is on the outside influences the inside. Our race, color, gender, etc., all influences how we see and perceive the world and our culture and experiences are adapted from this. Let's celebrate differences between individuals. Let's find similarities. Let's not ignore important aspects of who we are as people. We were created with these differences for a reason.

I did some research to prepare for this topic and I encourage you to do your own if you want to learn more. There are some amazing websites out there that have way more information than I can give.

Stay cool, stay you, stay beautiful,

H.L.W


P.S. The quote above is not my own, I found it on Google :)