Seeing Color

For non-minority groups, it is a common trend in the way of what many consider U.S. "political correctness" to insist that one "does not see color."

But, to many POC, this simply translates to, "I don't see you. I am blind to the injustices or experiences you and others have faced."

While most people who make such a statement mean well and quite genuinely have the best intentions, an attitude of perfect neutrality regarding race is morally and historically misguided.     

At least in the U.S., race is still an issue. 

I believe this needs to be said more often. Race issues are not the only issues, or necessarily even the greatest issues our nation faces on any given day. However, to dismiss advocacy for greater racial equality as "unnecessary" because "it is 2017," is simply ignoring reality. 

To form an objective view of U.S. history, and accordingly, a maturely qualified love for our country, we cannot ignore the racial struggles and experiences of so many of our own people.     

The U.S. has had an extremely poor history with race relations, and it has not yet to this day made appropriate reparations. Most prominently, blacks in the U.S. have suffered at great lengths, and the effects of this suffering are felt still today, generations after the abolition of slavery itself. 

For hundreds of years, blacks were enslaved, tortured, and politically and economically oppressed. The nation has not, by any means, had the quickest response to remedy any of this. The abolition of slavery was merely the beginning, not the end. 

We as a country are certainly still working on our message of inclusivity, and there is much work to be done.

Image credit: @feministastic :IG

From our current studies in Constitutional law, my classmates and I are seeing how the U.S. has had a horrendous history of systematic and institutionalized racism, and an equally horrendous history of “correcting” it.

The U.S. policies towards race went from being exceedingly oppressive toward blacks, to being exceedingly neutral (or attempting to).

This does zero good for the oppressed group.

When you go from a set of policies that favor a majority group, to a set of policies that attempt to not differentiate between groups, you get a society that continues to favor the majority group in practice, while having “racial equality” on paper. Of course, things have changed in this regard, but the sentiment remains among many non-minority groups today. 

It is this same sentiment that leads many non-minority groups to react poorly when POC attempt to discuss contemporary U.S. racial issues. 

It is particularly evident in the two most common responses by whites to any attempt to initiate a conversation about existing racism in the U.S.: 

#1. “All lives matter.”

Yes. Sure. All lives matter, yup. But that is missing the point. 

The point of the movement includes an implied “too” following the statement.

If you fail to see that you have missed the point. White lives have mattered forever. Black lives have mattered for what, maybe 40 years? That might be a generous estimate. 

The point of the movement is to draw attention to the race issues that still exist for blacks today, not to respond with, “Oh but wait, me, I matter too! I'm white and I matter!”

We already know. Everyone knows. But right now, in the face of police violence, economic disadvantage, and disparate treatment of non-whites in this country, it is important to remember that black lives matter too. 

The essence of the movement is to remind us of this, and keep us socially and politically active regarding the matter. It is not a movement to oppress whites. It is a movement to uplift blacks. There is a very distinct difference between these concepts- and failure to see it often is a result of one's own discomfort at confronting the unpleasant, a social defense mechanism, of sorts. 

While this may at times be an understandable initial reaction from non-marginalized individuals, it isn't a conducive discourse. Discussing inequality is unpleasant, and people should feel uncomfortable. Discomfort prompts the change we desire. 

(I will spare you the contrived, trite, and insanely overused- yet slightly on-point- lobster and its shell metaphor.) 

And if you're still not convinced, visit: Why ‘All Lives Matter’ Is Such a Perilous Phrase

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And then, the inevitable....

#2. “I don't see color.”

Well, if you don't see color then you are simply erasing the history of experiences of people of color. You are telling people that you do not see them, their individual struggles, or the horrific treatment of POC throughout U.S. history.

And when we fail to acknowledge and remember history…. well, you know how the saying goes.

The moral of the story is:

White people don’t like being made to feel uncomfortable on the subject of race, and the above statements are in response to such discomfort.

If you begin a conversation with a white person about issues affecting POC, and they respond with one of the above (or something similar), they are dismissing race as a non-issue simply because they feel awkward.

That's not okay, and if you hear such a thing, you may kindly remind them of such.

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