Photo by Nick Fewings
Awhile back I had a conversation with a coworker where I was trying to offer ideas on how people of color might feel about a recent event. When I mentioned color, the person laughed. I didn’t understand what was so funny, and, after discovering I wasn’t trying to make a joke, the person proceeded to say they didn’t think of people in terms of race. They just see people without noticing color.
Do you agree with that? Do you see yourself as colorblind when it comes to race? Is being colorblind something to be celebrated and a goal more people should work toward?
If you answered yes to any of the questions, I want to offer a different perspective to consider. Because as well-intended as being colorblind might be, it’s alienating to people of color.
The truth is, people are different races, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. I would also argue that you do see it, even if you say that you don’t. And it’s possible for this denial of race to get passed down from adults to children. Beverly Tatum describes how this happens by using a simple example of how a child can call attention to someone’s race to an unprepared parent.
Suppose a white mother and preschool child are in a grocery store and pass a black mother and similarly aged child. Since white preschool children can often confuse dark skin with dirt, the child says, “Mommy, look at that girl. Why is she so dirty?” The mother might embarrassingly say, “Shh…”
Has this ever happened to you? How would you respond? Even if well-intended, could this response still indicate to the child a negative association with being black or another race?
Beverly Tatum suggests that an appropriate response might be, “Honey, that child is not dirty. Their skin is as clean as yours. It’s just a different color, just like how people sometimes have different hair colors.” But parents afraid of saying the wrong thing might try to silence the child, suggesting to the child that race is taboo and not to be talked about publicly. And their questions don’t go away, they just go unasked. After all, clearly they see race.
And consider what a child might say when they see someone muscular or attractive. “Mommy, that person is so strong!” “Mommy, that person is so pretty!” Would a parent be embarrassed by those comments? Or are they likely to smile politely and acknowledge the child as correct?
But what if the child commented on someone as overweight or unattractive, the opposites of muscular and attractive? “Mommy, that person is fat!” “Mommy, that person is ugly.” How might a parent respond? With the same embarrassment as when the child pointed out race?
Would the parent respond in the same way if the child pointed out someone being white? What would make a parent ashamed of a child noticing someone as black? And why treat it like obesity and ugliness?
I know not all parents, white or otherwise, would respond with embarrassment in the scenario, but I think some would. And it’s an example of the messaging taught to children very early on. Rather than educating the child on race, it actually teaches the child not to talk about race publicly. And it can help instill positive and negative associations with different races. Perhaps this is why those of the Millennial and GenZ generations are supportive of equality but don’t actually discuss race. Maybe it’s because they’ve been taught that race is too taboo to talk about openly. And their questions never simply went away, they just never got answered.
Just because young children don’t openly talk about race doesn’t mean they don’t see it. Children are smart. And they know how to hide the things that they think are to be hidden. A glaring example of this is seen in a study aimed to see if white children allocated money differently to black children with or without a white authority present. 6 and 7 year-old children gave less money to black children regardless of whether an adult was present, showing an awareness of racial inequity at such a young age. But the behavior of the 9 and 10 year-old children was much more concerning. They only gave black children less money when the adult wasn’t present, showing an awareness of how that behavior is only to be displayed in secrecy from adults.
Children aren’t colorblind, as many parents would like to believe. Nor are they exempt from racism. But they do know how to hide it. And by hiding it, many are led to think that children don’t see color and prescribe to the colorblind mentality. That ideology can persist into adulthood, says Robin DiAngelo, and it is revealed by adults through comments such as:
- “I was taught to treat everyone the same.”
- “I don’t see color.”
- “I don’t care if you’re pink, purple, or polka-dotted…”
- “Race doesn’t mean anything to me…”
- “My parents weren’t racist so neither am I…”
- “… and that person was black but that has nothing to do with anything…”
- “Focusing on race is what divides us.”
Have you ever said any of those things? Are they things you say today? Do you agree with any?
I don’t think any of these are evidence that show we’re living in a colorblind society. I actually think we’re living in a society that avoids acknowledging people’s color because of learned behavior. And the reality is, these racial categories we pretend not to see actually do tend to dictate our thoughts and behavior. Buying into the idea that color doesn’t matter ignores how people of different races aren’t sharing the same life experiences. Colorblind thinking can blame people for their circumstances, while naively assuming everyone has equal access and opportunity in their pursuit of the American dream.
Also, in order to see and treat everyone as the same, someone has to define and establish what the same is. In other words, some person or group gets to determine what is and isn’t acceptable for how to treat people. And that culture is to be considered the normal culture.
And this presents an inherent risk to colorblindness. Soong-Chan Rah describes how not only does colorblindness rely on an underlying equality that doesn’t exist, it also implies that the goal is to do away with individuality and cultural identity. The outdated melting pot analogy has been replaced by another problematic ideology, the salad bowl. The salad bowl sounds like a great image of diversity but still suggests that the primary flavor of the salad should actually be the dressing which covers everything in the bowl.
In other words, buying into the colorblind approach requires some belief of a dominant culture, the salad dressing, that represents the expected and desirable culture that everyone should conform to. And it minimizes, rather than actually celebrating, someone’s cultural diversity and uniqueness in its own form. Which I find sad because there are so many amazing, wonderful cultures, found not just throughout the world but right here in this country!
Personally, I believe many don’t actually treat everyone the same, even some who consider themselves colorblind. Nor would I expect it. If you’re a white Southerner and invited Muslim friends over for a Ramadan dinner, I wouldn’t expect you to treat them to the same meal you usually prepare and plan to eat at the same time you typically do. Instead, you might respect their cultural differences and incorporate them in the dinner plans. I also don’t think those who think of themselves as colorblind actually oppose diversity. In fact, some might celebrate it.
Maybe what people mean by saying they’re colorblind or that race has no meaning to them is that they’re not racist. Maybe people think that by knowing someone or being friends with someone of color exempts them of racism, or proves they can only see everyone as the same.
But I would argue that being “not racist” should never be the goal. It should be to be antiracist. And I also think the logic is short sighted because it denies how people of color aren’t sharing the same lived experiences as white people, with race as the primary factor for the differences.
It’s clear that we can all see each other’s racial differences. Is it not obvious that it plays such a monumental role in our lives? Why not embrace it?
We embrace such a diverse colorful representation with other things. I always think of Crayola crayons. What started out as a box of only 8 crayons has now transformed into a collection of 120 different colors. How boring would it be if the box was filled with 120 different crayons all in the same shade of blue? No one would want it.
We want a box that is packed full with every beautiful color imaginable.
That’s how life is. That’s how the world is.
Full of so many beautiful people who come in all kinds of beautiful colors. Why ignore that?