Colorblindness: Why It Is Wrong And Racist

We are colorblind to slavery, genocide, torture and every form of systemic oppression. We have been locking black men in prisons for ages and have not really cared about it even though whites are just as likely to commit drug crimes as blacks. Mass incarceration is officially colorblind and the truth about it is that there is a profound misunderstanding regarding how racial oppression actually works. Racism manifests itself not only in individual attitudes and stereotypes, but also in the basic structure of society. The metaphor of being in a birdcage helps to describe structural racism. If you look at only one of the wires of the cage, you cannot understand why the bird is trapped; you must look at all the wires to see and ensure that the bird cannot escape. Same is true for racism; “Not every aspect of a racial caste system needs to be developed for the specific purpose of controlling black people in order for it to operate to trap them at the bottom of a racial hierarchy.” (Alexander, 2011) There are many laws and practices implemented that trap blacks in their

By pretending to be colorblind, you are not helping the issue. You are only making it worse. If you do not talk about it and have those uncomfortable conversations that make you truly realize that deep down everyone is a little bit racist just by thinking they are not, then nothing will ever change. You have to stand up for how you feel and speak your opinion. Thats what I have learned from my personal experience. I could have made it easier on my sister by standing up for her and being on her side, yet I just stayed out because I didn’t know what to think. I never knew what to think and not I have a solid belief that yes, everyone is a bit racist, but when you believe in your values then fight for them. That is the first step. Acting like it is not an issue is not the answer. I don’t think there is any real solution other than time and be a living example for others to follow

Racism is a word that sparks a nerve in many individuals today. As hard as it is to believe, racism is still a big factor in what we as a society know as a unified America. Although, it is not as obvious as it was in the past, it still goes on, just in ways that are less noticeable. We ask the question, is the emphasis on a color-blind society an answer to racism. Ward Connerly claims it is a way to stop the segregation and make America a whole as it has been striving to be for the longest. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva believes color-blind racism is the new racial ideology and still brings about racial inequality. As the solution to the question progresses, we ask ourselves, will a

Joseph Rose also notes another type of racism, “colorblind racism.” Colorblind racism is defined through four central subcategories. Abstract liberalism category discusses racial issues in a classic liberal sense involving concepts such as equality, meanwhile, opposing the steps in addressing racial inequality. Naturalization believes in the racial inequality as a natural occurring phenomenon. Cultural racism is the racial inequality to cultural differences between races, and the last subcategory is Minimization of racism involves suggesting that racism no longer has an impact on the lives of racial minorities. (Bonilla-Silva, 2006). All of these subcategories of colorblind racism fall within the new racism. At its basic definition, colorblind

A lot of people’s responses to this racism and inequality is to say that we should all just be colorblind. We should see people as

Americans have become accustomed to the repercussions of racism. It has diffused into areas that seemed unreachable; it has become institutionalized. Our predecessors lived the severity, and while we are residing in the realm of institutionalized racism, our grandchildren will also dwell within the waves of bigotry. The end of racism seems infeasible because we have existed in an America of hate for too long. Most people accept that they will encounter episodes of discrimination because of the color

When trying to understand the concept of color blindness we first need to understand what the term means. It is a set of beliefs in which white individuals judge non-white individuals as if they were treated equally ignoring past racism (Scott p. 77). Individuals who use color blindness do so through four central frames usually used together. The four frames are abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism. To understand how the four frames are sometimes used together we need to understand their meaning.

Colorblind racism fails to acknowledge the racial inequalities that exist in the workplace, education, housing, welfare, etc. Due to this lack of acknowledgment, that promotes the idea of equality but dismantles the truth behind the real meaning of equality. In other words, color-blind racism paints this perception of equality to believers, but realistically, these ideas are not enforced within the systematic structures of our society. Studies have revealed that institutional racism exists, there is lack of equality of opportunity—depending on where individual lives, and there are clear discriminatory laws in the United States. Yet, the color-blind racism ideology attempts to dismantle all these proven studies by choosing to ignore the structural bias, as well as historical time periods that reveal racism. Which, in turn, is why color-blind racism feeds into the traditional American ideal of the American Dream and the “melting

First, those leaders who demonstrate a colorblind perspective do so in varied ways. The variation is characterized by a version of what Bonilla-Silva refers to as minimization. According to Bonilla-Silva, the issue of minimization is that while “whites and blacks believe discrimination is still a problem, they dispute its salience as a factor explaining blacks’ collective standing” (p. 91). Among these leaders, minimization occurs in two types of school settings – either school settings with small populations of students of color or diverse high-poverty settings. In these settings, race is constructed as a non-issue or as insignificant in comparison to poverty and therefore ignored.

Prior to taking this course, I was taught, and therefore was under the impression, that prejudice is a preconceived notion about a group and that racism is essentially the same thing, except that racism also encompasses the idea that the group is lesser. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva states that “for most whites, racism is prejudice; for most people of color, racism is systemic or institutionalized” (Bonilla-Silva, 2010). Quotes like this force me to reflect, both on how I see myself and how others see me. Reading that quote, I felt like I related more to ‘most whites’ because I believed that racism was essentially prejudice for so long. I remember once while doing a cross the line activity, I hesitated before moving when the facilitator said “step forward if you are a person on color.” Technically, yes, my skin is pigmented in a way that would qualify me as a person of color but there is a connotation with that phrase that I felt didn’t relate to me. My first reaction to that phrase is the thought of someone who has struggled, someone who faces racism on a regular basis, someone who is treated differently because of the color of their skin. In my opinion, the more others acknowledge a part of your identity, the more apparent that part of your identity is to you, and I don’t often feel that people acknowledge my identity as an Asian American. I’ve been called a coconut more times than I can count. Brown on the outside but white on the inside. Sure I look brown, but I don’t ‘act

Many people in the United States society believe that people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities are now on an even playing field. People with this belief support their logic with the argument that since equal rights for people of color and women have been required by law for some time now, we are all inherently as equal as claimed in the Declaration of Independence. Many believe that race is no longer an issue, a viewpoint frequently referred to as color-blindness. National polling data indicated that a majority of whites now believe discrimination against racial minorities no longer exists. (Gallagher, 96) Color-blindness allows a white person to define himself or herself as politically and racially tolerant and then proclaim their

Acknowledgment is defined as admitting or accepting the existence or the truth of something or simply recognizing the fact or importance or quality of something. Growing up in the 20th century where many of the major racial divisive systems have long been demolished I don 't find it astonishing when I come across someone who isn 't aware of or simply doesn 't believe inequality still exist. Typically this “someone” is white and that’s not a generalization because any person of color simply isn 't granted the luxury of being ignorant to certain inequalities because they 're the ones subject to it. Acknowledgement for me looks like the acceptance of this idea that racism does still truly exist. Another interesting idea that 's fairly new and i 've only now come to understand the argument against is color blindness. White communities typically use this idea to argue the fact that they’re not racist because they don’t see color, they are color blind. Again, I can understand the possible good that is meant to come from comments like this, but you are again, not acknowledging that there’s a real issue. By claiming that you “don 't see color” you invalidate the struggle that a person of color goes through while also choosing not to recognize your white privilege. When you don 't see race you’re essentially saying that you don 't see racism.

An experience I went through that proved to me color-blind racism is prevalent was when I applied for a job. When I turned sixteen I was so excited to apply for a job because I wanted to feel independent. Naively I didn’t realize that race and ethnicity had a big part of wether or not I got hired. As I applied to this clothing store everything went as planned and

A timid teenager tries to make sense of her parents divorce by going to a therapy group for children of divorce, and sparks an unlikely friendship with another girl in the group that challenges her to explore her identity independent of her new family situation.

Myths related to the causes and symptoms of "colourblindness" are abound throughout the world. The term itself is misleading, since it is extremely rare for anyone to have a complete lack of color perception. By looking into the myths related to color blindness, one can learn many facts about the structure and genetics of the human eye. It is a myth that colorblind people see the world as if it were a black and white movie. There are very few cases of complete