'Colour-blind' - not so much.
"I don't see race, I'm colour-blind."
I've seen this a lot on LJ and elsewhere, whenever the race and racism debate heats up - someone will profess that they don't see race, that people are 'just people', sometimes with an accompanying 'whether they're white, black or purple'.
The people saying this are always white, in my experience. I've never seen a POC state that they are colour-blind. It's been bothering me quite a bit, and I think I'm justified in saying that unless you have the medical condition of the same name, it's time to stop using the term.
I'm as white as they come and I came from a privileged, sheltered background in terms of race and many other things - I grew up in a small town that was predominately white, my grandparents are racist. I've since grown up and changed a lot, but I would never say that I am colour-blind.
I know the thoughts behind the term 'colour-blind', what is running through the person's head. They're thinking 'Well, you know, I just don't pay that much attention to race! People are just people to me - I have white friends, black friends, Asian friends, friends from all over the world! Why wouldn't I be colour-blind? Race doesn't matter, it doesn't exist to me. How can you say that this is a bad thing? Shouldn't all people be colour-blind?'
And they say all of this never realising just how steeped in privilege they are, how dismissive and wrong their words are - or that by saying that they are colour-blind, and perhaps living by these words, they are likely just as racist themselves without even realising it.
The reason why POC never say that they are colour-blind - in my experience - is because they are aware of race and skin colour and everything that comes along with it. Culture, tradition, societal expectations, white attitudes and negativity, and yes, racism. This is why the concept of being colour-blind is full of privilege - because POC simply do not have the luxury of being colour-blind. They are reminded every day that they are not white, and how society looks at them differently because of it. They are reminded when fandom goes nuts over the white guys in a movie, and ignores the token POC. They are reminded when they read the headlines where white people profess their fear of 'illegal immigrants' and 'foreigners' who are always POC, never white. They are reminded when a fanfic writer, thinking she is acting in good faith, is inspired by the crisis in Haiti to write about two white men falling in love with each other. They are reminded by the discrimination they face every day, by the fact that in most places, political representation is predominately white. They are reminded by the media that does not reflect their faces or their stories, by the white washing of book covers.
A person cannot be unaware of the colour of their skin when they are subject to discrimination because of it. So I am saying, as a white person, I find it wrong for any other white person to say that they are colour blind. For any white person to say that they are unaware of skin colour is equivalent to them waving their privilege around like a flag, reminding all of those around them that they are white, and have never experienced racism. It is an attempt to say that all people share the same experience, and while yes, that is an admirable goal, it's simply not true. Not all people share the same experience, not simply because different cultures and traditions are important, but also because not everyone is given the same rights and treatment by society in general, in the job market and in so many other ways.
Because of these facts, the term 'colour-blind' is dismissive and hurtful. It is dismissive of reality, of culture, of tradition and of history. Why? Because the world is not colour-blind, and trying to use the term always comes from a position of privilege, comfort and power. It almost always comes from people who are trying to distance themselves from their own privilege and comfort, as though saying that they are colour-blind removes the fact that they are favoured by society. The fact that it usually always comes up in conversations where POC are pointing out privilege and racism makes it suspect even beyond that - responding to accusations of racist behaviour with the protest of being colour-blind does not bode well. It is smacking the other person in the face with the statement 'I am white, so white that I can pretend that skin colour, discrimination, racism and bigotry do not exist. I am saying that our experiences are the same.'
The term colour-blind ignores those who struggle against racism every day, because it refuses to acknowlege race and skin colour and its importance, and how people are affected by it. A person saying they are colour-blind or that they don't see skin colour is, in essence, saying that they are blind to something that shapes the lives of POC on a daily basis. They are showing that they are in a position where they are able to close their eyes to the pain and suffering and bloodshed wrapped up in skin colour, because it doesn't affect them. They are ignoring reality and history - internment camps in Canada, slavery, the need for affirmative action, and the racism that continues on to this very day. They are participating in the idea that with a black man now sitting in the White House, racism is over. I could go on.
There is information out there that shows that in fact, colour-blind ideology is linked to racism. Because people who profess to have colour-blind attitudes are, in fact, less sensitive to issues regarding race and racism, and perpetuate racist attitudes by not reacting to racist images, as the article uses as an example.
Colour-blindness is not the solution. The solution is for us, as white people, to look around and take in the people around us, and listen. Listen even when it makes us uncomfortable, listen when it bothers us, listen when we want to disagree, and then listen some more. Absorb what makes us different and what POC have experienced, and learn from it. The key is to understand and work towards acceptance of our differences, not to try and make it seem as though we are all the same.
I am not colour-blind. And no-one should say that they are. Not in the world we live in, with all its history.
There are
comments at Dreamwidth. http://kerri.dreamwidth.org/632540.html#comments
I've seen this a lot on LJ and elsewhere, whenever the race and racism debate heats up - someone will profess that they don't see race, that people are 'just people', sometimes with an accompanying 'whether they're white, black or purple'.
The people saying this are always white, in my experience. I've never seen a POC state that they are colour-blind. It's been bothering me quite a bit, and I think I'm justified in saying that unless you have the medical condition of the same name, it's time to stop using the term.
I'm as white as they come and I came from a privileged, sheltered background in terms of race and many other things - I grew up in a small town that was predominately white, my grandparents are racist. I've since grown up and changed a lot, but I would never say that I am colour-blind.
I know the thoughts behind the term 'colour-blind', what is running through the person's head. They're thinking 'Well, you know, I just don't pay that much attention to race! People are just people to me - I have white friends, black friends, Asian friends, friends from all over the world! Why wouldn't I be colour-blind? Race doesn't matter, it doesn't exist to me. How can you say that this is a bad thing? Shouldn't all people be colour-blind?'
And they say all of this never realising just how steeped in privilege they are, how dismissive and wrong their words are - or that by saying that they are colour-blind, and perhaps living by these words, they are likely just as racist themselves without even realising it.
The reason why POC never say that they are colour-blind - in my experience - is because they are aware of race and skin colour and everything that comes along with it. Culture, tradition, societal expectations, white attitudes and negativity, and yes, racism. This is why the concept of being colour-blind is full of privilege - because POC simply do not have the luxury of being colour-blind. They are reminded every day that they are not white, and how society looks at them differently because of it. They are reminded when fandom goes nuts over the white guys in a movie, and ignores the token POC. They are reminded when they read the headlines where white people profess their fear of 'illegal immigrants' and 'foreigners' who are always POC, never white. They are reminded when a fanfic writer, thinking she is acting in good faith, is inspired by the crisis in Haiti to write about two white men falling in love with each other. They are reminded by the discrimination they face every day, by the fact that in most places, political representation is predominately white. They are reminded by the media that does not reflect their faces or their stories, by the white washing of book covers.
A person cannot be unaware of the colour of their skin when they are subject to discrimination because of it. So I am saying, as a white person, I find it wrong for any other white person to say that they are colour blind. For any white person to say that they are unaware of skin colour is equivalent to them waving their privilege around like a flag, reminding all of those around them that they are white, and have never experienced racism. It is an attempt to say that all people share the same experience, and while yes, that is an admirable goal, it's simply not true. Not all people share the same experience, not simply because different cultures and traditions are important, but also because not everyone is given the same rights and treatment by society in general, in the job market and in so many other ways.
Because of these facts, the term 'colour-blind' is dismissive and hurtful. It is dismissive of reality, of culture, of tradition and of history. Why? Because the world is not colour-blind, and trying to use the term always comes from a position of privilege, comfort and power. It almost always comes from people who are trying to distance themselves from their own privilege and comfort, as though saying that they are colour-blind removes the fact that they are favoured by society. The fact that it usually always comes up in conversations where POC are pointing out privilege and racism makes it suspect even beyond that - responding to accusations of racist behaviour with the protest of being colour-blind does not bode well. It is smacking the other person in the face with the statement 'I am white, so white that I can pretend that skin colour, discrimination, racism and bigotry do not exist. I am saying that our experiences are the same.'
The term colour-blind ignores those who struggle against racism every day, because it refuses to acknowlege race and skin colour and its importance, and how people are affected by it. A person saying they are colour-blind or that they don't see skin colour is, in essence, saying that they are blind to something that shapes the lives of POC on a daily basis. They are showing that they are in a position where they are able to close their eyes to the pain and suffering and bloodshed wrapped up in skin colour, because it doesn't affect them. They are ignoring reality and history - internment camps in Canada, slavery, the need for affirmative action, and the racism that continues on to this very day. They are participating in the idea that with a black man now sitting in the White House, racism is over. I could go on.
There is information out there that shows that in fact, colour-blind ideology is linked to racism. Because people who profess to have colour-blind attitudes are, in fact, less sensitive to issues regarding race and racism, and perpetuate racist attitudes by not reacting to racist images, as the article uses as an example.
Colour-blindness is not the solution. The solution is for us, as white people, to look around and take in the people around us, and listen. Listen even when it makes us uncomfortable, listen when it bothers us, listen when we want to disagree, and then listen some more. Absorb what makes us different and what POC have experienced, and learn from it. The key is to understand and work towards acceptance of our differences, not to try and make it seem as though we are all the same.
I am not colour-blind. And no-one should say that they are. Not in the world we live in, with all its history.
There are
comments at Dreamwidth. http://kerri.dreamwidth.org/632540.html#comments