This is not actually surprising

[conuly]

Color-blind racial ideology linked to racism, both online and offline

Comments

[conuly]

If the "colour-blind" (whatever that actually means) students are to be considered racists, what about those who aren't "colour-blind"? It looks to me like this article is basically saying "All whites are racists", which is in itself a racist statement.

I don't see that it says that at all. Color-blind means, afaik, you go around saying things like "I don't see race, I see people", a scientifically accurate but largely worthless statement when "race" is tied up with heritage, ethnicity, culture....

There's a good section there on what people who *don't* have "color-blind" attitudes do. They actively confront people on this.

Instead of calling it "racist behavior", which begs the question of the validity of 'race', why not just call it "hurtful behavior"?

If you're being hurtful and rude to people based on their race, does it matter if race is not a very scientific concept?

A person can be special, or a person can be equal, but not both.

I disagree, but give me a second to get my thoughts together, this might not be as clear as it should be.

If I were of any random ethnicity - let's pick Irish American, because it's an easy example - I might do any number of things that confirm that this is special in some ways. I might take Irish Dance lessons, which are popular enough on Staten Island. I might be more likely to give my kids one subset of names that sound "Irish" to me. I might celebrate St. Patrick's day with a certain amount of flair. I might do any number of things that I don't know what because I'm not personally Irish American.

But I'd still be entitled to equal opportunities and equal rights under the law.

Likewise, I spent my childhood in a very Italian neighborhood. The people did some things that marked them as "special" - they often spoke Italian in the home. They had a week long festival on my street for Santa Rosalia. They gave their kids names from a different set of names than the Irish Americans. And while I don't know this personally, I wouldn't be that stunned if they ate more (and more authentic) Italian food than the rest of the city. I'm just guessing based upon the ravioli factory across the street from my apartment and the preponderance of Italian bakeries around, of course.

But they're still entitled to equal rights under the law, and equal opportunities. I assume none of these things which make them, as a group, special make them less able in various areas.

There are any number of Orthodox Jewish communities in the tri-state area. As a rule, they do things that mark them as special. They dress in certain ways, they eat certain foods, many of them still speak Yiddish, they of course follow their own religion, they give their kids names from a different set of names than either the Irish or the Italian Americans (not that there isn't overlap, you know, but when you meet a four year old named Rifka or Dominick, it's not a surprise) and so on. All these things are special, but they're still, as a group, equally smart and talented, moral (or not so moral if you're a misanthrope here), and all that stuff as everybody else, and they're still equally protected under the law (or at least, that's how it's supposed to work - arguments that it doesn't are for another post).

And so it goes. Some groups or some individuals within groups may feel more or less strongly these various ties and "specialness" than others, sure, but the possibility is there. You might be raised entirely "nothing-special" until the day you decide to Get In Touch With Your Heritage, and then there you go.

(In fairness, it's not just ethnic/religious groups. This all applies to any subculture. They're special in some ways, but equal under the law.)

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

I wish it were possible to design a study of the actual outcomes in real-world behavior when a 'color blind' person is told that his 'color blindness' is actually 'racism' etc etc.

Consider a person whose attitude has actually been 'color blind'. In socializing, professional net-working, patronizing small businesses, etc, he really has been considering only the characteristics and interests that the other person chooses to exhibit. He thinks of new people he meets as 'the guitar player' or 'the architect' or 'the hotdog vendor' rather than 'the Black', 'the Native American,' 'the Japanese'.

So when Mr. Colorblind is told that he's 'racist' and should be thinking of each new person in terms of their race -- well, some Mr. Colorblinds are going to feel uncomfortable and begin avoiding POC's altogether. Thus the guitar player isn't invited, the architect isn't hired, and fewer hotdogs are sold.

[conuly]

So when Mr. Colorblind is told that he's 'racist' and should be thinking of each new person in terms of their race

Nobody IS saying that. However, when Mr. Colorblind is saying that race doesn't matter at all (even when it's a big part of a lot of people's identities) or that racism is over and done with (even when it's not and a quick perusal of the facts should prove otherwise), or that obviously racist actions aren't because nothing is "meant by it"....

I mean, this study isn't about "avoiding" people. It's about laughing when people post obviously racist stuff online, or calling people on it.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. And, as someone who grew up "colorblind" and has been trying to learn better, I want to add that there are very valid reasons why a white person /should/ try to have awareness of race and racial issues.

Being unaware of some of the racially-based struggles my friends and acquaintances were undergoing led me to be insensitive at times to their needs and concerns.

Let me illustrate with an unrelated example. If I were blind to the amount and nature of homophobia in our current culture, I might counsel a friend to come out of the closet-- or even spill his secret-- without knowing how much it could cost him in terms of friends, family, and career, or even his personal safety. Or I might make jokes that I consider harmless because I don't understand the actual prejudice he faces, and get mad at him for "overreacting" to them, or inadvertently put him at risk by taking him to a bar where people like to beat up on gays... and so on and on. In short, I would be a bad friend-- or employer-- for this person, because I did not take his sexual orientation into account. The same is often true of race.