The Problem With Saying "I'm Colorblind"
If you're a POC (Person of Color), you've most likely heard this phrase before: "I'm colorblind, I don't even see color!"
And no, I'm not talking about someone whose eyes don't take in color the way others do. I'm talking about the white people who respond to the issue of racism by saying that when they look at someone they don't see the color of their skin. According to them they don't even notice it, it doesn't matter to them.
Well, allow me to let you in on a little secret. People of color don't want you to disregard or ignore our race or nationality. We want it to be acknowledged and recognized because it's a source of pride. We're proud of who we are. We just want you to understand and be okay with that.
To say that you're colorblind is to ignore our struggles and triumphs as a person of color. If we wanted the world to be colorblind there wouldn't be a Black History Month or a Hispanic Heritage Month. There wouldn't be so many petitions and movements based around more representation in the media. Strong representation. Not stereotypes and caricatures of us that insult and demean our people and histories.
To be colorblind is to turn a blind eye to the injustices like police brutality, rampant racism, slavery. The blatant poor education and restrictions placed on inner city/black and Hispanic schools. The way we're portrayed on TV, in books, on the movie screen. Not to mention how we're treated in everyday life.
Every minority knows the feeling of walking into a store and being followed around and gawked at, treated like we don't belong there. How our young children don't have many superheroes or Disney characters to look up to. How for black kids the standard of beauty shoots down our thick curly hair and constantly makes us feel less than.
Don't forget that the history books that they read in schools basically ignores our heroes constantly. So not only do we not get a decent education but the one that we do get erases us from history. You know, not unless it's for a few chapters and even then it treats racism like it's been done away with. The fact that the KKK is still around and no one is doing anything about it is astonishing.
No, I don't want you to be colorblind, I want your eyes wide open. I want you to see me. See my black skin, my thick hair, my dark eyes and my struggle. See it and be big enough and strong enough to deal with it. Because unlike you, colorblind isn't something I can afford to be.
And no, I'm not talking about someone whose eyes don't take in color the way others do. I'm talking about the white people who respond to the issue of racism by saying that when they look at someone they don't see the color of their skin. According to them they don't even notice it, it doesn't matter to them.
Well, allow me to let you in on a little secret. People of color don't want you to disregard or ignore our race or nationality. We want it to be acknowledged and recognized because it's a source of pride. We're proud of who we are. We just want you to understand and be okay with that.
To say that you're colorblind is to ignore our struggles and triumphs as a person of color. If we wanted the world to be colorblind there wouldn't be a Black History Month or a Hispanic Heritage Month. There wouldn't be so many petitions and movements based around more representation in the media. Strong representation. Not stereotypes and caricatures of us that insult and demean our people and histories.
To be colorblind is to turn a blind eye to the injustices like police brutality, rampant racism, slavery. The blatant poor education and restrictions placed on inner city/black and Hispanic schools. The way we're portrayed on TV, in books, on the movie screen. Not to mention how we're treated in everyday life.
Every minority knows the feeling of walking into a store and being followed around and gawked at, treated like we don't belong there. How our young children don't have many superheroes or Disney characters to look up to. How for black kids the standard of beauty shoots down our thick curly hair and constantly makes us feel less than.
Don't forget that the history books that they read in schools basically ignores our heroes constantly. So not only do we not get a decent education but the one that we do get erases us from history. You know, not unless it's for a few chapters and even then it treats racism like it's been done away with. The fact that the KKK is still around and no one is doing anything about it is astonishing.
No, I don't want you to be colorblind, I want your eyes wide open. I want you to see me. See my black skin, my thick hair, my dark eyes and my struggle. See it and be big enough and strong enough to deal with it. Because unlike you, colorblind isn't something I can afford to be.
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