ISO Clear article on why (racial) colourblindness is bad
June 11, 2020 8:23 PM Subscribe
Someone posted a "we should all be colourblind and this would end racism" themed meme on fb. I believe this person is naive, not evil, and would be receptive to a different viewpoint. But my googling and Metafilter searching have note turned up anything useful. Looking for something clear, analytic without being Social-Theory-with-a-capita)-S-H., and on the question of colourblindness specifically, not racism in general. Ideas?
I'm really hoping for a clear, almost (or possibly even literally) bullet-pointed list of the problem with colourblindness. I don't think she (or the people liking her post) will read a 10 page Atlantic Monthly article. I also think she (and they) might be less receptive to anything that starts from a first-person how-I-feel-when-people-tell-me-they're-colourblind starting point.
I'm really hoping for a clear, almost (or possibly even literally) bullet-pointed list of the problem with colourblindness. I don't think she (or the people liking her post) will read a 10 page Atlantic Monthly article. I also think she (and they) might be less receptive to anything that starts from a first-person how-I-feel-when-people-tell-me-they're-colourblind starting point.
From this article, by Claudia Rankine:
"if you can’t see race, you can’t see racism".
Or this tweet.
posted by many more sunsets at 9:07 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
"if you can’t see race, you can’t see racism".
Or this tweet.
posted by many more sunsets at 9:07 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
That episode of Oprah was recorded in 1992. Twenty-eight years ago. And it includes this:
My daughter has always had to put up with the fact that we can't buy Band-Aids that would be inconspicuous on her; apparently, colour-blind manufacturers have expected her to agree to be insane together with them for her entire lifetime.
I wonder for how many more years the same will apply to sport strapping tapes.
posted by flabdablet at 9:35 PM on June 11, 2020 [13 favorites]
Elliott: Flesh-coloured Band-Aid! Now, on which - put your hand out here, please - on which of our hands would that flesh-coloured Band-Aid be insiginificant? It would be more noticeable on his. Why?Breaking news today: Band-Aid launches bandages for different skin tones
Winfrey: Because it's not flesh-coloured!
Elliott: Because this (pointing to black guest's hand), according to the manufacturers of flesh-coloured Band-Aids, is not the proper color for flesh. And when you say to a person of color, "When I see you I don't see you as black," what you're saying is, "You have this deformity. And I'm going to pretend that you don't have that deformity, and then we'll be able to relate to one another if we pretend that you aren't black." If I have to pretend that he isn't black, what does he have to do? Pretend he isn't black. So then we have to agree to be insane together for a while.
My daughter has always had to put up with the fact that we can't buy Band-Aids that would be inconspicuous on her; apparently, colour-blind manufacturers have expected her to agree to be insane together with them for her entire lifetime.
I wonder for how many more years the same will apply to sport strapping tapes.
posted by flabdablet at 9:35 PM on June 11, 2020 [13 favorites]
Stop saying, “I don’t see color.” Here are some better ways to support us. (Amy Lawrence, Matador, Dec. 27, 2016) ("If you’re white and claim you “don’t see color,” you’re kind of claiming that you don’t see your own whiteness, the effects of it, or the systemic benefits of being white.")
Opinion: Dear 'White Allies', Stop Saying That You 'Don't See Color' (Jarrett Hill, NBC News, Dec. 1, 2016) ("Would you ever try to prove to a woman that you aren’t sexist by saying “I don’t see gender” to her? I would certainly hope not. This is no different.")
"I Don't See Color" (Sam Louie MA, LMHC, S-PSB, Psychology Today, Feb. 22, 2016) ("Part of the problem with our country’s desire to be “post-racial” and color-blind in terms of seeing the inherent worth of an individual regardless of skin color, is that you can dismiss all the concerns, experiences, and real-world issues of racism that plagues this country from both an individual and larger societal level.")
When you say you 'don't see race', you’re ignoring racism, not helping to solve it (Zach Stafford, Guardian Opinion, Jan. 26, 2015) ("“Colorblindness” doesn’t acknowledge the very real ways in which racism has existed and continues to exist, both in individuals and systemically.")
Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism (Monnica T Williams Ph.D., Psychology Today, Dec. 27, 2011) ("colorblindness has helped make race into a taboo topic that polite people cannot openly discuss. And if you can't talk about it, you can't understand it, much less fix the racial problems that plague our society.")
posted by katra at 10:44 PM on June 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
Opinion: Dear 'White Allies', Stop Saying That You 'Don't See Color' (Jarrett Hill, NBC News, Dec. 1, 2016) ("Would you ever try to prove to a woman that you aren’t sexist by saying “I don’t see gender” to her? I would certainly hope not. This is no different.")
"I Don't See Color" (Sam Louie MA, LMHC, S-PSB, Psychology Today, Feb. 22, 2016) ("Part of the problem with our country’s desire to be “post-racial” and color-blind in terms of seeing the inherent worth of an individual regardless of skin color, is that you can dismiss all the concerns, experiences, and real-world issues of racism that plagues this country from both an individual and larger societal level.")
When you say you 'don't see race', you’re ignoring racism, not helping to solve it (Zach Stafford, Guardian Opinion, Jan. 26, 2015) ("“Colorblindness” doesn’t acknowledge the very real ways in which racism has existed and continues to exist, both in individuals and systemically.")
Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism (Monnica T Williams Ph.D., Psychology Today, Dec. 27, 2011) ("colorblindness has helped make race into a taboo topic that polite people cannot openly discuss. And if you can't talk about it, you can't understand it, much less fix the racial problems that plague our society.")
posted by katra at 10:44 PM on June 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
College Humour video - so obviously, College Humour (caveat emptor) and this video has the "I don't see race" person as a woman with the other characters all male, but it's digestible.
I'm trying to remember a cartoon I saw (maybe on The Nib?) that addressed this issue, but a quick google isn't turning up anything.
I'm white, and not from the USA, so this advice requires grain of salt for usefulness.
posted by freethefeet at 2:37 AM on June 12, 2020
I'm trying to remember a cartoon I saw (maybe on The Nib?) that addressed this issue, but a quick google isn't turning up anything.
I'm white, and not from the USA, so this advice requires grain of salt for usefulness.
posted by freethefeet at 2:37 AM on June 12, 2020
Response by poster: Well, I tried. She deleted the comment.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:25 PM on June 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:25 PM on June 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thebots at 8:41 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]