Colorblindness

[tamago23]

I've been reading a lot about race and privilege recently. Not sure why it captured my attention within the past six months or so after pretty much a lifetime of not really examining the issue, but it's a good thing. (That's part of white privilege: the fact that I _could_ get away without examining the issue for so long. Only someone who hasn't

Comments

[jinxeh13]

Holy shit, you're pretty much the only person I know that has this opinion, and I love you for it. If I would tell so many other people I know, "No, I'm not colorblind," they just would not get it, and/or would automatically assume me to be a racist or think I don't know what I'm talking about. -sigh-

[tamago23]

If I would tell so many other people I know, "No, I'm not colorblind," they just would not get it

I think there's a very strong push for the concept of colorblindness. None of us want to be labeled racist, and what's the quickest way to avoid that? "I can't be racist! I don't even notice race! I'm colorblind!"

Also I think it catches on easily, in an unexamined kind of way. Take Person A who's talking about being colorblind and Person B is like, "Yeah, that's a nice philosophy - we SHOULDN'T be classifying people by race! I'm going to be colorblind too." And then colorblind becomes the commonly accepted term to use to describe oneself as not-racist.

would automatically assume me to be a racistWe're fighting an uphill battle here. People who label themselves colorblind don't have to justify it because it sounds great - of COURSE we shouldn't use race as a marker! But if we say that we're not colorblind then we have to explain why it is we pay attention to race, and we have to specify that we can notice race and acknowledge it

[tamago23]

I read that article periodically and I think each time I "get it" more, because I've done more research in the meantime.

[persephone82]

I've not given a whole lot of thought to the privilege issue either, so this is coming from a not very well thought out place, but the idea of "colorblind" has always bothered me as well. Mostly because I believe we are all descended from the same person, or group of people (genetics bears this out), and that there is only ONE race- human race. "Color", Ethnicity, and etc are all variations based on where we ended up, and the groups of people around us, influencing us either positively or negatively. To be colorblind would be to be blind to the beautiful diversity that is the human race- and quite honestly, I'm not willing to give that up. I LOVE our diversity- it's amazing and beautiful. No, I'm not colorblind. I see you, and I see how you are different from me, and I think it's awesome and miraculous.

[tamago23]

I've no doubt I've got unconscious biases the same way pretty much everyone does. But my test is always, "Would this make me react differently to someone if they spontaneously came up to me in an everyday situation?" Things like race wouldn't make me react differently. Things like sex and/or gender definitely do. Physical size does as well; I'm going to be more cautious with someone who could pose a physical threat, less so with someone my size or smaller. Cleanliness would be another one. If someone is wearing clothes that are obviously ill-taken-care-of and if they smell like they don't take care of themselves, that's going to cause me to treat them with more caution. Admittedly sexuality stereotypes play a role for me too; if a man comes up to me but he's obviously gay, I'll feel less threatened than if a man comes up to me who may potentially be interested in me sexually.

I'm a judgmental cunt too but that tends to be about things people DO rather than what they ARE. ;)

[kettunainen]

Knowing I'm not colorblind always made me feel like I was an un-PC, discriminatory bastard because, um, people look different... and... I notice that.

But it doesn't matter to me that they look different.

I see that skin colour has a HUGE impact on all aspects of life and not understanding that certainly makes one among the privileged.

Thanks for posting this. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.