In a nation that drowns itself in political correctness and shudders in fear of any racial discussion, the notion of  “colorblindness” has been our sure-fire way of not seeming racist or to disregard the racial and class tensions that mean so much to our society.
People who identify as “colorblind” claim that they don’t “see color,” that race doesn’t matter to them, and worst of all, that race isn’t a problem anymore.
Colorblindness is a form of ignorance and yet, most of us consider colorblind a positive term.
I cringe every time I hear it: How could you not see something so real?
American society spent the first 400 years of its existence rationalizing the domination and exploitation of people of color: selling blacks in to slavery, killing off Native Americans and sending the remaining to reservations, putting the Japanese in internment camps, limiting the number of Chinese who could migrate here. Every culture of color, and many European immigrants, were alienated, exploited, and utterly dehumanized at the hands of Western power. The difference between people of color and European immigrants, however, is that people of color never achieved the same level of assimilation as the Irish, the Italians or the Jewish. Europeans were eventually welcomed into the ranks of whiteness.
Racism, and classifying people by skin tone, were essential aspects of the American power structure — we can see the effects of our discriminate history in many facets of our modern society.
Arabs are often perceived as terrorists. One in nine black males aged 20 to 34 is incarcerated. More black men are in prison than in college, according to InfoPlease. Mexican immigrants continue to work some of the most laborious and important jobs in the country for well under the minimum wage — waiting eons to take a citizenship test that is so hard most Americans would fail it. People of color are still “ambassadors” for their entire race; they have to represent their color with their every action, and they have to explain every problem that their culture faces.
There are more instances of racial iniquity, but from this alone we can see that our society is still not equal — we are still a racially oppressive state. I acknowledge the progress we have made, most symbolically identified with the election of a black president, but race is still a large factor of how one will be perceived and the probability of being successful in this country.
So, when people say they are colorblind, unknowingly, they are saying that they don’t acknowledge how our history has created the concept of race and how we have many social differences to owe to it. They are underplaying the many social problems we face daily, and if we continue to allow people to say they don’t see race, racial dilemmas will continue to be thrown under the rug — for people of color to handle alone.
Being colorblind is not going to solve anything; just because you don’t see color doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I know color exists. Students at the University of California, San Diego know color exists. The kids at Jena know it exists; we simply cannot go about denying something that has had an impact on millions of us. Just because something isn’t a problem for you doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.
If we are ever to create a society that can be truly equal and diverse, we must not be colorblind — rather, we must be color-comprehensive. Understand that yes, we are all different colors, and yes, the racial construction of our society has had different impacts on us. But we should embrace our differences and not pretend we are all the same.
You cannot be a proponent of diversity if you don’t see color. To appreciate diversity is to see people of different heritages and colors for everything they are and appreciate them for it — not pretend they are some race-neutral entity with no cultural tie to their skin.
Our political climate has trained us to believe that any racial conversation or racial distinction is racism, that we should not have anything to do with racial discussions because it may offend someone, and that if we identify a racial issue and take a stance, we are being racist. From this fear of racial dialogue, we were deceived into believing people of color didn’t want to be identified and recognized for their culture, and I would be offended if someone didn’t want to acknowledge the beauty of my black heritage — I am proud of it!
I want it to be displayed and identified. To see color does not mean that you see the need to place social constructs with it; rather, it means that you know what color is, how it functions, and how it makes other people’s lives more difficult.
Though I do understand the good nature of this perspective, wanting to see us all as humans and nothing more, it leaves out so much of who we are as humans, and it devalues so many of our struggles both currently and historically.
Because of my skin, and the struggles that come with it, I am different; I am a person of color — if you are colorblind, then you cannot see me.
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