It is as predictable as death and taxes. If you try to have a conversation about
race in America, you inevitably get pious comments about how we should stop pointing
out skin color. The very second someone
applauds an accomplishment in the context of a person's ethnicity, you get comments like
these: “Why does race have to
be important and included in every report?
She’s an amazing American athlete that brought home the gold, period.”
“Why does the ignorant
media take away from her amazing accomplishment by making this about her race!? She’s part of the human race! And an American!!!! Congratulations!!”
“Why throw race into
it? Why not just say American?” Do the other countries break out the race
cards?”
I would like to point out something that should be obvious
to these well-meaning folks. Your very reluctance
to even speak about skin color betrays your attitude that there’s something wrong
with having skin that’s not white. There’s
just no reason not to applaud Simone Manuel for being exactly who she is—a black,
American, female athlete—unless you think there’s something wrong about
it. Face it. Historically, we're usually only supposed to avoid talking about “bad” things:
sexuality, cancer, mental illness, domestic abuse, HIV. This list goes on, and it includes race, apparently.
Think of it this way. If someone has amazing, bright green eyes, you would have no problem pointing them out as being so different from everyone else’s. You wouldn’t whisper the word green while describing them. If someone else mentioned them, you wouldn’t say, “Why are you bringing eye color into it? Color doesn't matter. We're all Americans!” Quite the opposite is true. You would have no problem openly discussing her eye color because you don’t think there’s anything wrong with having different eye colors. Why, then, can’t we talk about skin color, especially in a positive way? We can. We should.
Of course, there's much more to the discussion of skin color, isn't there? It is a loaded observation to point out a person's race, because it speaks to identity in a way that eye color does not. Here, I believe is the crux of the problem so many whites have with discussing race. We don't want to admit that the lived experiences of people in America can be determined by skin color. It is preferable for us to pretend we are all treated fairly regardless of what we look like, when in reality our skin color often influences experiences. In turn, experiences are part of what shapes identity. How can we keep arrogantly denying white privilege, if we admit we do see the different experiences and identity that so often accompany differences in skin color? We can't. So we pretend to be colorblind.
How can we continue holding whiteness as the standard against which everyone is measured, if we are brave enough to acknowledge white privilege? We can't. So we pretend to be colorblind. Sure, there is a great need for us to recognize that we are all part of one human race. The trouble is, many of us are living under the unconscious supposition that the one race is supposed to be white. It sounds something like, “I’m not prejudiced. I think people of other races are just as good as whites.” Did you catch it? We want to stop feeling bad about racism, but we still want the default to be whiteness. We are so uncomfortable with a change to our default, we won’t even talk about it. So we pretend to be colorblind.
Think of it this way. If someone has amazing, bright green eyes, you would have no problem pointing them out as being so different from everyone else’s. You wouldn’t whisper the word green while describing them. If someone else mentioned them, you wouldn’t say, “Why are you bringing eye color into it? Color doesn't matter. We're all Americans!” Quite the opposite is true. You would have no problem openly discussing her eye color because you don’t think there’s anything wrong with having different eye colors. Why, then, can’t we talk about skin color, especially in a positive way? We can. We should.
Of course, there's much more to the discussion of skin color, isn't there? It is a loaded observation to point out a person's race, because it speaks to identity in a way that eye color does not. Here, I believe is the crux of the problem so many whites have with discussing race. We don't want to admit that the lived experiences of people in America can be determined by skin color. It is preferable for us to pretend we are all treated fairly regardless of what we look like, when in reality our skin color often influences experiences. In turn, experiences are part of what shapes identity. How can we keep arrogantly denying white privilege, if we admit we do see the different experiences and identity that so often accompany differences in skin color? We can't. So we pretend to be colorblind.
How can we continue holding whiteness as the standard against which everyone is measured, if we are brave enough to acknowledge white privilege? We can't. So we pretend to be colorblind. Sure, there is a great need for us to recognize that we are all part of one human race. The trouble is, many of us are living under the unconscious supposition that the one race is supposed to be white. It sounds something like, “I’m not prejudiced. I think people of other races are just as good as whites.” Did you catch it? We want to stop feeling bad about racism, but we still want the default to be whiteness. We are so uncomfortable with a change to our default, we won’t even talk about it. So we pretend to be colorblind.
My friends, colorblindness is not the key to peace in this country. It is not even possible, unless you are, in fact, blind. What value is there, then, in pretending not to see? It's time to debunk the myth; colorblindness is not the opposite of racism. The antithesis of racism is admiration, or at the very least, acceptance. What if we stopped treating the differences between us as shameful things to be spoken of in hushed tones? What if we celebrated our differences as the flavors that make us each unique? What if we all just decided to be honest and stop pretending?
Photo credit: http://abc7ny.com/sports/manuel-becomes-first-african-american-woman-to-win-swim-gold/1466927/
