Blog Post #4: Rethinking Color Blindness

 

Rethinking Color Blindness 

Articles:

Why you should stop saying “all lives matter,” explained in 9 different ways

By German Lopez

“Colorblindness is the New Racism” Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight 

By Margalynne J. Armstrong and Stephanie M. Wildman 

In Armstrong and Wildman’s work “Colorblindness is the New Racism” Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight, the authors challenge readers to think critically about the rhetoric of “color blindness.” Several points are made throughout the reading to prove the argument that claiming color blindness in itself is a racist act. Color blindness suppresses the reality that race holds strong social and political influence on society, while color insight encourages the exploration of the impact of race on society and human relations. Color insight also demands people to examine the social power of whiteness and its connection to privilege in the modern world. 

Toward the beginning of this article, Armstrong and Wildman exclaim, “This incomplete understanding of the nature of white privilege, coupled with the modern move toward colorblindness, conceals the raced nature of much law and power” (page 65). This quote brought me directly back to Allan Johnson’s work “Privilege, Power, and Difference.” Both of these articles demonstrate that white individuals in the United States hold evident power and privilege in society due to the injustices that have been woven into American history. While white individuals can be well-intended in saying that they are “color blind” as they wish to treat all people equally, the narrative of “color blindness” takes power away from people of color who have been stripped of dignity, privilege and voice for decades throughout history. 

Further into the reading, the authors write, “People of color know all too well that society racializes them with a race other than white. Yet, Whites often do not think about race and racial justice, except when they notice people of color are present” (page 66). I connect this quote directly to Lisa Delpit’s work "Other Peoples’ Children" as she introduced “The Silenced Dialogue.” Delpit argued that those with power in a dominant culture are least aware of their power and privilege, while those without it possess the strongest awareness of it. In Armstrong and Wildman’s work, the authors argue similarly that white people do not even have to think about race unless people of color are present. This in itself creates a privilege and power imbalance between white people and people of color. This is a reality that must be acknowledged. 

The authors urge readers to promote color insight and eradicate color blindness. The text states, “Color insight requires a commitment not to sweep race under the rug, but rather to name its presence and to examine its attributes from multiple perspectives, including the operation of privilege” (page 69). Color insight is a call to action for white people to speak truthfully about race and gain perspective. To deny the existence of difference, power, and privilege in race relations is an injustice. Color blindness allows people to avoid difficult conversations about race. Color insight, however, promotes engagement in meaningful dialogue about the impacts of race, exploration of its effects, and work towards solutions.

The second article Why you should stop saying “all lives matter,” explained in 9 different ways by German Lopez offers great perspective as to why the expression “all lives matter” is an insensitive and degrading response to “Black Lives Matter.” Lopez points out that while all lives do hold inherent value, “Black Lives Matter” speaks explicitly to the unjust devaluation of people of color in the United States that exists even today in the twenty-first century. In his address to a church member, a Unitarian Universalist minister writes about this topic and exclaims, “To deny the truth of these experiences because they make me uncomfortable would be to place my comfort above the safety of others, and I cannot do that” (Lopez). I believe that both authors Johnson and Delpit would agree with the minister’s position that avoiding the discomfort and accountability in conversations surrounding race is to deny the reality of individuals of color. We must acknowledge the existence of privilege, discuss racial justice openly, and explore further to gain deeper understanding.