This phrase bothers me SO MUCH.
Maybe because it's an enigma. I don't understand how a person can not see color. Even the vast majority of medically colorblind people can distinguish between colors on a limited spectrum.
Although I believe most people that use the colorblind phrase say it from a "good" place - implying that they treat everyone the same - it really serves no benefit to anyone other than the on-looker to white-wash everyone. To not see color is to disregard the race/ethnicity of the people you interact with. How incredibly problematic. It translates to, "I can only respect wholly people that look like me."
Unfortunately, I only saw the world in black-and-white for a majority of my life. Growing up in rural Mississippi, I wasn't exposed to much ethnic diversity (socioeconomic, either, but another story for another day). My high school graduating class was almost exactly 50% white and 50% black, so maybe what bothers me is when I see some of the people from my hometown say this.
The kicker
We had black and white homecoming maids.
We had black and white class favorites. The ballots were divided in to white boys, white girls, black boys, black girls
Our proms were segregated.
They did not integrate prom at my high school until 2007.
No BS. This was really going on. I graduated in 2004. When I tell friends about my high school experiences, it sounds more like I graduated in 1964.
People were discussing the after effects of Jim Crow while we were still fucking living it! Amazing!
How could someone that I attended this high school with not see the clearly demarcated racial lines drawn between us?
Granted, I saw them then, but not as boldly as I do now. How could the school system allow such atrocities to take place unless they WANTED it. There were forces at work that my adolescent brain could not comprehend until now. I knew that it wasn't right, but it was our norm.
*aside: These "forces" are the reason I believe #JonathanSanders - an unarmed black man that was choked to death by a white police officer in my home county - will not recieve the justice he deserves. I encourage you to read his story*
We were being conditioned to see "Separate, But Equal" as okay. Everything back then was categorized:
"You're my best WHITE friend"
"He hoops pretty good for a WHITE boy"
"She's smart for a BLACK girl"
"BLACK guys don't dress like that"
etc..
Beyond thankful to get out and become slightly cultured. To this day, I still want to divide and categorize races, but now that I'm cognizant of it, I attempt to do a better job of not doing so.
The whole "I don't see color" thing makes me think of one line from the Charleston AME mass murderer's manifesto:
"Black people are racially aware almost from birth, but White people on average dont think about race in their daily lives...."
I actually agree. You're less inclined to be aware of something - in this case, race, if it does not negatively affect you or change how you approach certain situations (e.g. being pulled over by a police officer).
Do not choose to be unaware. Acknowledge that you can see race. Embrace what you see. Do not let it affect how you treat them. Maybe then, we can become a nation where people are truly judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
