Unveiling the Dangers of Color Blind Racism: Ignorance, Indifference, and Inequality

The feasibility of racism has becoming such an immense issue that people are starting to refer to themselves as “color blind,” meaning they cannot see different skin colors. According to reliable sources, the term “color blind,” in this case does not actually mean someone cannot see colors correctly. It is more of a mental status meaning they can in fact see different skin colors but choose not to.

If people start referring to themselves as “color blind,” they will soon become blind to the racism still occurring in the world. Just because someone claims they are not racist does not mean they can turn their backs on the problem of racism. If more become “color blind,” blatant racism is going to become more prevalent.

Introduction

To be blind does not always require loss of eyesight. The Merriam-Webster defines the term blind as, “having no regard to rational discrimination, guidance, or restriction”. Sometimes we are sightless to the ideas, concepts, or situations that make us uncomfortable and as Maya Angelou once said, “we are only as blind as we want to be”. Issues such as sexism, racism or ageism have been around for centuries. However, as humans we prefer to disregard the past and pretend racism is not still unbelievably prevalent in today's society. Racism has put a new meaning into the term “blind” by causing people to refer to themselves as “color blind” as in they cannot see different skin colors. Research has shown that the term “color blind” is more of a mental status where a person in fact can see different skin colors but chooses not to. Individuals who are “color blind” to skin color are at risk to believe that racism is no longer occurring in the world, which is not only false but also dangerous. Although nine times out of ten people who choose to be “color blind” to skin colors are not racist, they are still blind to ongoing racial problem. One of the fastest ways to change a mind is by spreading awareness backed up by facts. If we as a society are able to educate people to the dangers of ignoring skin color, as much as we educate people the wrongness of being racist, then the discrimination will be less prevalent in the all aspects of society.

Color Blind Racism: Analysis

When looking at the skeleton of the term “color blind” in relation to skin tone, it seems like a good thing. If a person sees no skin color then there is no way they can be defined as a racist person. However, Psychology Today states, “colorblindness alone is not sufficient to heal racial wounds on a national or personal level. It is only a half-measure that in the end it operates as a form of racism”. To summarize this, color blindness to race only creates more problems by ignoring centuries of racism, denying that minorities ever experience racism in the first place, and quite simply states that race does not matter. On the contrary, race does matter, and research shows that this kind of discrimination affects people every single day. Sociology researcher at Texas A&M University, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, heavily exploits this kind of discrimination. Bonilla-Silva uncovers the idea of colorblind racism as being a new form of racism that started all the way back in the late sixties in the United States post-civil rights era. Colorblind racism is slippery, subtle and claims, “discrimination has all by disappeared” (Bonilla-Silva, 2001). This slippery slope of color blind racism was further explored in 1997 with a study conducted among 600 students (451 white) from three different universities. Each student was asked a simple set of questions during an interview. Their answers showcased just how detrimental color blindness to race was to how the students spoke about race. For example, the white students “avoided direct racial language while expressing their racial views” (Bonilla-Silva, 2001). The results of these interviews concluded by showing that questions regarding race were disregarded or answered indirectly. Race should not be something that is ignored or forgotten, but embraced and painted in bright colors.

The book, The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity, talks about the colorblind racism and racial indifference: The role of racial apathy in facilitating enduring inequalities. Much of the discussion revolves around how we have to take new measures to get rid of colorblind racism by understanding that racism is much more passive and less explicit where racial antipathy is increasingly expressed (Tyrone A. Forman, 2004). Foreman states, “racial apathy refers to lack of feeling or indifference toward societal racial and ethnic inequality and lack of engagement with race-related social issues. It is expressed in two ways: a lack of concern about racial and ethnic disparities and an unwillingness to address proximal and distal forms of racially disparate treatment” (Tyrone A. Foreman, 2004). Being blind to racist discrimination does not make a person exempt from being racist, but rather creates a stigma that racism is not an issue we should be concerned about. Lastly, Foreman makes the argument that “the post-civil rights racial ideology should be called color blind racism”, as it builds up the idea that race does not matter post civil-rights America. This view does nothing but creates the ideology that inequality is the result of personal choices, and not blocked opportunity (Tyrone A. Foreman, 2004). The danger of colorblind racism really comes to play when we mask racism as being a choice instead of an issue.

Colorblind racism is one of the most common and passive forms of racism. Color blind racism is the new face of racism that has aided in “producing a myriad of social ills, redlined neighborhoods suffering from inadequate infrastructures, sub-standard and segregated schools, and open discrimination in employment” (John F. Dovidio & Samuel L. Gaertner, 2017).  Open discrimination in the workplace has always been an issue that not only created disparities, but also greatly influences the “access of blacks to the workplace and their performance in it”(John F. Dovidio & Samuel L. Gaertner, 2017). Now the question remains, how do we solve this issue?

Throughout the centuries, racism has transformed from having one meaning to twenty different meanings with hundreds of subcategories. The term racism has become a virus that evolved into deadly mutated forms. As discussed, one of the worst forms is being colorblind racism. This form is not only hard to recognize but also has become harder to combat. With this being said, now more than ever we must find ways to educate people with this disability in order to help solve this issue. Dovidio & Gaertner outline a few ways on how to educate people of the detrimental effects of colorblind racism from a situational standpoint. They sum up their solution for color blind racism by simply stating that it is necessary to “establish new, positive norms for action that replace our current norms for avoidance of responsibility”. The world is changing, which also means that the way people perceive ideas and consume information is also changing. With this change we need to find new norms for how people deal with issues such as racism. These new norms will make the “blind” see that racism is not something that is in the past, but very much in the present as well as the future. This concept bleeds into the argument by Edward Fergus in an article in the Journal for Educators. Fergus states many ways colorblind racism can be “brought to justice”. During a keynote conference Fergus was told by his white coworker that she does “not see color” because “she doesn’t treat him that way”, and his response was, “If you do not seeing my color, that means you are treating me like yourself, which means that at some point I will do or say something that does not fit the image of the white women you are treating me like” (Fergus, 2017). This conversation between Fergus and his white coworker is a direct example of how dangerous not seeing color can be to the way people communicate, and react. Fergus suggests that this kind of colorblind racism should be taught in school as just another form as racism in order to destroy it.

Another beneficial way of solving the misconception of it being positive to not see color in race, is by educating people of the three protocols of race dialogues; politeness protocol, academic protocol, and colorblind protocol. Politeness protocol is to simply avoid talking about subject matters inside of race that you are not well knowledgeable of. On the other hand academic protocol deals with emotions, telling those to omit emotions from any race dialogue. This action will cause people to understand race rather than turn a blind eye to the fact that it is even a concept. Lastly, people must learn to follow the colorblind protocol itself, which refers to “universalizing the experience of marginalization”. It is urged not to make race a null or unimportant conversation point, instead, make it a conversation with the goal of managing what is said (Fergus, 2017).

Conclusion

We hear people often say not to talk about the controversially rough topics such as politics, sex, religion, or race. However, if we do not talk about these topics then how do we expect to grow as a civilization? Growth and problem solving is only found when action is applied. We must take action as a HUMAN race to teach all people that “race is a human invention, race is about culture (not biology), and that race and racism are embedded in institutions in everyday life” (Dr. Joyce E. King, 2000). Educator, Dr. Joyce E. King understands this concern and states that not only do we have to understand the detrimental effects that color blind racism has on society, but to also the importance of being liberated from schooling students to avoid race. Backtracking to the definition of blind as, “having no regard to rational discrimination, guidance, or restriction” (Merriam-Webster), it is clear to see that nothing about being blind to race is acceptable. At the end of the day, race itself does not define a person but it does plant the seed from where people grow. It is time to open the eyes of the blind so that every seed is shown the sunlight it deserves to grow the way life intended it to.

References

1. “Blind.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blind.
2. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. “The Linguistics of Color Blind Racism: How to Talk Nasty about Blacks without Sounding ‘Racist.’” SAGE Journals, 2001, journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/08969205020280010501.
3. “Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism.
4. Dovidio, John F, and Samuel L Gaertner. Color Blind or Just Plain Blind? The Pernicious Nature of Contemporary Racism. 2017.
5. Fergus, Edward. “Confronting Colorblindness.” Kappanonline.org, 27 Aug. 2017, www.kappanonline.org/confronting-colorblindness/.
6. Foreman, Tyrone A. “The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity.” Google Books, 2004,books.google.com
7. King, Dr.Joyce E. “White Teachers at the Crossroads.” Teaching Tolerance, 2000,www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2000/white-teachers-at-the-crossroads.