“I
don’t see color,” or “I don’t care if you’re pink or green” or “color shouldn’t
matter, we are all once race.” It is disgusting to me. To be frank, I hear this
a lot from my friends and it’s one of those statement that has no value, but
sounds good. Everyone knows that color should serve no value, unfortunately, it
does. People, we live in America, race most certainly does matter. If you can
enter a place of business and act like you don’t see people of color standing
right in front of you, you are in denial because color is relative in America.
Personally,
I think “I don’t see color” is a phrase that hides truth in America, and is a
phrase that no one seems to really discuss, racism. Whether you agree or not,
racism is alive and thriving in our country, and when people don’t acknowledge
race, it makes the situation worse. If you don’t see color, hopefully you can
notice the differences between the shapes of someone’s nose, eyes, and lips. I
know that everyone can notice the textures of hair that grow out of the heads
of those that don’t look like you.
For
those who recognize race, you may have received some slack from people, I know I
have! Somehow in America it has become bad to see color, let alone become
educated about the issue our society faces everyday with the issues of race. Newsflash:
I am white, but if I was black, I wouldn’t want people to tell me they don’t see
color because I would want people to recognize my skin and my struggle.
Let’s
be honest, if you were walking down a street and saw an African American man
with a hoodie up and his hands in his pockets, you wouldn’t notice color? Or if
you are a father and your daughter brings home a young man that was of color,
you wouldn’t notice that he was black? Come on now, you would notice.
Saying
you don’t see color steps us from having discussions that really matter. It
strips us from being educated about the issues of race, and it stops us from
being able to talk to one another about how difficult it can be to live in this
country. When you tell me you don’t see my color, you are basically telling me
that you don’t see a huge part of who I am and that doesn’t help me or race
relations in our country.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roni-faida/why-i-hate-the-phrase-i-d_b_9341762.html
I see what you are saying and I agree with you. I personally do not see how claiming to 'not see color' does anything to improve race relations in our country. Regardless of ones sex, race, religion, sexual orientation etc. everyone notices when other individuals are similar to them or not. In fact, I do not think that it is a negative thing to 'see color'. I think that 'seeing color' allows us to learn about other cultures, communities, traditions and heritages; something that I believe will enrich our world and draw many different communities closer. However, the problem occurs when people attach racism and racial superiority to how they treat and interact with other people. As I stated earlier, claiming to not 'see color does nothing to improve our current race relations. So, instead of claiming to not see something that is very apparent, we as a community should focus on praising each community for its differences, welcoming each individual wholly, and by doing so, hopefully we can work to build a more welcoming nation/world community.
ReplyDeleteI have also heard the phrase, “I don’t see color.” I think it is ridiculous, and I say that after equating all of the information I have learned thus far in the semester. Prior to this semester I didn’t have too much of an educated opinion, but now I am a strong proponent of embracing all forms of diversity. By diversity I don’t just mean African Americans, I also mean all minorities and women. Too often in our discussion about race we focus attention directly on African Americans. If there is one lesson I have learned from our class thus far, it’s that diversity is equated to African Americans, and we tend to forget about children, women, or other minorities. This article is a friendly reminder that we need to be aware of our surroundings and we receptive to multi-cultural societies.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to acknowledge the differences of cultures. Saying, "I don't see color," is embracing the color-blind ideology. Though this may seem like a good ideology to live by, it actually perpetuates the problem. Like Jack said, race is a part of the American culture, and unfortunately, so is discrimination and racism. By adopting the color-blind belief system, men and women belonging to the "other" category will continue to be left in the dust. We must first acknowledge the differences of culture and discrimination "others" face, rather than ignore color(or at least pretend to).
ReplyDeleteYou stole my topic, I just heard this the other day and was going to write about it today. I agree though, saying "I don't see color" is ridiculous because clearly you do. What you do in response to seeing that color is the more important thing, not your ability to stick your head in the sand in regards to diversity in the United States. Ignoring the issue of race in this country won't help, we have to recognize it, discuss it, and come to meaningful agreements instead of pretending the issue doesn't exist.
ReplyDeleteJack -
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your post because I think it is disrespectful and disgusting that people often disregard color simply because they are uncomfortable with the concept of diversity. By stating, "I don't see color," it further widens the understanding that individuals have for others of different races, ethnicities, genders, etc. It not only furthers racism among groups of people, but it also does not help to solve it; if anything, it conforms to values that should have been left in the past years ago. By stating that you are "colorblind" or "unable to see color," it dismisses the importance of the mixing pot culture that America has worked so long to achieve, and yet, is still unsuccessful.