The idea of colorblindness when it comes to race is certainly not a new idea.
But they are not.
And thats not a bad thing.
The latter doesnt make a person sexist any more than the former makes them racist.
At least not inherently.
You cant prefer what you cannot identify, whether its consciously or subconsciously.
Furthermore, humansand this includes human childrenlike to categorize.
Categorizing people helps us figure out where we fit in the world.
Do you remember middle school?
Remember the nerds, the jocks and the popular kids?
Remember how kids of similar interests, talents, agesand, yes, racesgravitated toward each other?
We feel familiarity with people who look like us, act like us and have similar backgrounds to us.
He gives the example of accents as a way of illustrating his point.
Instead, children acquire the normative accent of the region where they are growing up.
Where do you want your kids learning the bulk of the community norms right now?
In this situation, a parents first instinct is usually a mortified
shhhh
not an explanation, Tatum says.
But did we just teach them to be colorblind?
Or did we just teach them that it is shameful to acknowledge a difference?
Its what Tatum calls not colorblindbut colorsilenced.
They dontwantwhite people to be colorblind.
Just the opposite, in fact.
Theyre practically begging for white people to see them: their pain, their fear, their exhaustion.
Refusing to have a dialogue about race will not deal with the issues we faceit will only perpetuate them.
Kids do see color.
They do see race.
Looking for ways to advocate for black lives?
Check out thislist of resources.
