'Colour-blind' - not so much.

Aug 12, 2010 09:46

"I don't see race, I'm colour-blind ( Read more... )

'colour-blind', racism

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Comments 13

primroseburrows August 12 2010, 19:39:50 UTC
This is something I've been saying for years. My mother, who is not racist but more just old-school, says it and I've been trying to educate her. I'm not sure it's working, because she still doesn't get how it can be a racist attitude. I think maybe she's just waaay out of touch with her privilege, because like I said, she's really not a racist.

I heard something on some radio show a while back (either NPR or CBC, I'm thinking--I wish I could remember so I could link to it) where they compared two office environments at different companies, one that was "colour blind", and one that celebrated each employee's culture. Guess which one was more open, social, had higher production stats and was more fun to work in?

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effervescent August 12 2010, 22:17:17 UTC
I find it hard with anyone who's older, to separate ignorance from overt racism - or even implicit racism. I think a lot of the time it used to be sort of implicit most of the time, you know? There are things that stand out to me now, like my grandfather talking about 'Japs' and 'Polacks' with that tone, but it didn't really mean anything to me at the time. I wish you luck with your mum - I don't know how old she is, but I think it's harder with older people, sometimes, because there's even more of a sense of 'normalcy' because everyone thought the same way, and society didn't talk about it.

I wouldn't doubt it - it makes sense, and I'm glad that I stumbled across that second article I linked to. Being 'blind' to things generally isn't a good thing.

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primroseburrows August 13 2010, 02:20:56 UTC
Mum is 82. I'm not holding my breath. At least she doesn't say "Coloured" anymore (she did when I was a kid). She still says "Oriental", though. *shrug*

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boho August 12 2010, 19:52:01 UTC
Very well put. I'll be honest here & say that I only recently began to understand these issues at a personal level when I lived in a country where I was the other and each day I was reminded of just how white I was. It was a humbling experience that I will always appreciate & has taught me that 'not being racist' isn't about ignoring issues/skin colour, but embracing and tackling the differences & problems that arise. Ugh, this isn't coming across well I know, but yes. Good post.

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effervescent August 12 2010, 22:19:38 UTC
I remember a few months ago, walking into an Asian supermarket in the mall that I work in, and being overwhelmed and very aware of my skin colour. :/ Afterwards all I could think about was that if that experience was so unusual for me and I felt that way, then how did PoC feel most of the time? Not at all like going to another country, but it made me think. Don't worry, I think I understand what you mean. :)

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boho August 13 2010, 00:26:05 UTC
Exactly. I found it quite disconcerting coming home and being surrounded by so many white people if I'm honest. In Ghana you're constantly reminded of your colour, either by people shouting out to you, talking to you, or just being aware in general & it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's a 'this is different, rather than ignore it let's talk about it' thing. I think a lot of white people can get so caught up in the 'everyone is the same and everyone is equal and that is that' mentality, that they don't stop to think that whilst that is the 'right thing' to think, it's not actually many peoples experiences of the world. Just because you think that everyone is the same, doesn't mean that everyone treats everyone in this way & if we don't address this issue things will always have an underlying negativity. Ha, I should really sleep. Sorry for not making much sense. :\

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boho August 13 2010, 00:28:24 UTC
Basically, yes, being 'color-blind' can make things worse because it's effectively ignoring problems that still exist & we need to tackle them head on & understand that we don't all experience the same world, not just brush them to one side, is roughly what I'm trying to say.

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kita0610 August 12 2010, 20:27:22 UTC
Well said.

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shoiryu August 12 2010, 21:44:17 UTC
♥ Awesome. Thank you for this.

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glockgal August 12 2010, 21:52:34 UTC
I've known two people of colour (Canadians, like that was any surprise) who have claimed to be 'colourblind' - my friend, recently, who agreed to the colourblind ideal when I asked him; and myself.

Because a LOT of PoC in cities as multicultural as this one can completely buy into the whole 'colourblind' ideal. For me it was a way of saying "I am just like you! I am not like an immigrant! Please continue to perpetuate your privilege with my stamp of approval! Will you approve of me now?". For my friend, he says it for reasons having to do with being the lone Vietnamese immigrant family growing up in a northern BC town - either you accept racism and internalize it, or never, ever ever ever belong.

Both stem from the need to belong. God, I wanted to belong to the white Vancouver so badly for so much of my life and I'm still trying to break out of it. I think a lot of the second-gen like me face this, because we don't want to be lumped in with the 'fresh-off-the-boat' PoC or - even more novel - 'reverse racists'. So we allow ( ... )

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effervescent August 12 2010, 22:13:42 UTC
*smush* When I was writing this I was initially going to just say that POC never say that they are colourblind, but then I realised that that would probably be a mistake, because so often racism is internalized - not to mention sweeping generalisations are never a good thing.

It took me awhile to even realise that 'colourblindness' couldn't be a good thing - it's an argument that you see so often online, especially.

I love living in Vancouver because it's so multicultural, but obviously I can't really understand what it must be like as a PoC. I think I see a lot of 'but it's true, right?' at work, but it's hard to tell. If it's so hard here, I can't imagine what it might be like in other places in Canada that aren't as diverse.

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