In our current society, race matters as people tend to be hostile to those people who are not like them; this results in racism. Most black people, especially those living among the whites, often face rejection and ill-treatment. The whites perceive them as inferior people and should be their slaves. Some whites bury their heads in the sand and object to recognize the explicit racism that the Black people are habitually subjected to in America. Racism can deny people access to resources in society, some of which they have been involved in generating (Staff, 2021). Biologically, racism does not matter; there are no differences within the human species. Racism matters a lot because it can determine the quality of life of both white and black people.
Racism is a two-edged sword; it causes harm to both parties. The white people do not understand that they hurt themselves by denying the Blacks opportunities to contribute sufficiently to society. Racism can also, to some extent, be of benefit to the Blacks in that they can be become super successful (Staff, 2021). The resistance they receive from the whites makes them stronger, giving them the ability to evolve. When the Blacks realize this concept and make good use of the resources available, the sky will be their limit of what can be achieved.
Colorblindness is the racial ideology that speculates the best way to eliminate discrimination by treating and viewing all individuals as equal regardless of their race, culture, or ethnicity. The doctrine believes that racism does not exist as long as we ignore it. It also encourages disengaging from conversations of race and racism in totality. Individuals embracing colorblindness see racial disparities, history of brutality, trauma, and inequalities perpetuated in a racist society. In a race-related crisis, colorblindness individualizes conflicts and shortcomings instead of viewing the larger picture with stereotypes and cultural differences. Therefore, colorblindness is one of the critical foundation pillars of a disunited society.
According to Mazzocco, there are four different types of colorblindness (Swhelper, 2017). They include protectionist, egalitarian, antagonistic, and visionary. He explains what it means to be racially colorblind in today’s society through his model. Protectionists have a high prejudice and low awareness. They believe minimal racial inequalities and the minorities complaining of imbalance are “playing the race card.” Egalitarians have low discrimination and shared understanding. They believe that racial; justice has been achieved, and thus there is a need to discuss racial issues. Antagonistic have high prejudice and high awareness. They know there is an error in racial justice, but they are okay with it. Visionary has common discrimination and increased awareness. They believe that racial injustice is present, and the way to overcome it is to stop emphasizing racial differences and boundaries and focus on what people have in common.
According to Mazzocco, colorblindness leads to the failure of the discussion about racial justice. Different colorblind such as visionary and antagonistic, have different beliefs. Color blindness is harmful since it does not acknowledge the myriad problems the minority groups face in society. People should not have the perception that racial discrimination does not exist. Minority groups indeed face real struggles and actual costs. One remedy to racial colorblindness is multiculturalism. In a multicultural society, the community members tolerate and embrace differences in culture. In this society, people highly acknowledge that racial disparities exist, and therefore, they celebrate diversity.
Colorblindness denies the lived experiences of other people. Most white people adopt an individualistic lifestyle. Most white majorities live in segregated parts of the cities, making it difficult to think about the social policies and laws that lead to the gaps in wealth and education equality along racial lines. The individualist lifestyle casts problems such as poverty as personal failings. Colorblindness allows the whites to live in ignorance, innocence, and naivete. Therefore, it is crucial to acknowledge that racial injustice exists and fight against it. Individualism is not the best lifestyle.
Colorblindness dims the value of ethnic and racial cultures and identities. Racial cultures cannot be neglected since they are our identities. Colorblindness implicates that identity doesn’t matter, yet the blacks are ill-treated because of their identity (VergeNetwork, 2016). The identifying race begins so early that children as young as five years and below can note the difference. At this stage, parents and guardians need to affirm that the physical differences exist, celebrate the beauty and diversity, and explain why Black people have darker skin. The minority group will always know right from their childhood that people will often judge them due to their color. Colorblindness should not be the thing, but systems of inequality should be visible to be dismantled.
Researchers have found out that this ideology of ignoring institutional racism promotes racial injustice in terms of housing, education, income, and criminal justice. The concept is an antipathy towards the minorities and justification of policies that oppress the minorities. Seeing the existence of racism leads to the development of policies and laws that fight racism.
Embracing colorblindness has blinded the whites that the Blacks depend majorly on whites on almost every quality of their lives (Gallagher, 2017). It explains why there is a need to note the existence of race. Although the Black people should not be treated to make them feel inferior and lower their self-esteem, it is also a fact that they are also a little bit lower than the whites and thus, a great need to be supported. The Blacks mostly need support in finances, health services, and education. Colorblindness allows the whites to see that they are equal to the Blacks and thus, tend to deny offering help to the Black people.
One possible way of getting out of colorblindness is to avoid thinking of racism exclusively as views and acts done individually but instead think about it from a broad perspective (Vincenty, 2020). People should also read books concerning racism. Apart from self-examination, it is significant to value other people’s life experiences because they also got implications in your life. There is a need to have in mind that racism exists.
Another way of eradicating colorblindness and racism is by talking about racism. The techniques help people to evade racist behaviors. People should be enlightened on the different forms of racism, the negative implications, and the consequences of practicing racism. People should take note of racism and speak it out. It also helps to assess the rate of racism and therefore put other measures if the speed is high. The government can introduce tight measures to curb racism.
Racial colorblindness is, thus, dangerous to society. It blinds people to the fact that racism does not exist and fails to fight racism. It denies us our cultural identities live experiences of other people and blinds the white from the fact that the Black people majorly depend on them for most of their lives.
References
Gallagher, C. A. (2017). Colorblind privilege: The social and political functions of erasing the color line in post-race America.
Staff, C. (2021, September 23). Does race matter? The Chicago Crusader. https://chicagocrusader.com/editorial/does-race-matter/
Swhelper. (2017, August 23). 403 forbidden. 403 Forbidden. https://swhelper.org/2017/08/23/implications-behind-racial-colorblindness/
Vincenty, C. (2020, June 12). Being color blind doesn’t make you not racist—In fact, it can mean the opposite. Oprah Daily. https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/relationships-love/a32824297/color-blind-myth-racism/
VergeNetwork. (2016). Why ‘colorblindness’ is toxic. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKTBRw4ml2c&t=2s
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