Frequently Heard Claim: “I don’t see colour, it’s not all about race… Why don’t we just spread positivity?”
A section of “Becoming Anti-Racist in Barbados: Q&A”, a resource list for ALL white or ‘pass-fuh-white’ Bajans, and other white people living in Barbados.
“I don’t see colour. Why do we have to bring race into everything and make things so divisive? Why don’t we just spread positivity?”
Being “colour blind” used to be shared as a way to “prove” we are not racist. However, it is not helpful as we need to acknowledge our differences in order to work towards a better future.
You see, researchers have coined this term “color blindness” to describe a learned behavior where we pretend that we don’t notice race. If you happen to be surrounded by a bunch of people who look like you, that’s purely accidental. Now, color blindness, in my view, doesn’t mean that there’s no racial discrimination, and there’s fairness. It doesn’t mean that at all. It doesn’t ensure it. In my view, color blindness is very dangerous because it means we’re ignoring the problem.
…So I think it’s time for us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation about race: all of us, if we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity…, I think we have to have real conversations about this issue. We cannot afford to be color blind. We have to be color brave. We have to be willing, as teachers and parents and entrepreneurs and scientists, we have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race with honesty and understanding and courage, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the smart thing to do, because our businesses and our products and our science, our research, all of that will be better...
— Mellody Hobson, Color blind or color brave?
“Not seeing colour” can also erase the identities and experiences of people.
Race unfortunately does impact countless aspects of our society, we need to recognize that in order to spread actionable positivity — making things better with actions and not just words.
If want to live in a truly ‘post-racial’ society then we have to be willing to do work to get there.
We have to honestly examine what race and racism ACTUALLY is; not just what we assume it is. We have to ask who invented these concepts of White and Black (& Native, Asian), why they invented them and how they have been defined and been at work in our societies forming our assumptions, biases, and behavior for generations.
We don’t get to skip to the happy ending. Wishing does not make it so. We can’t leave the doctors office and ‘wish away’ the cancer without identifying it and taking the steps to get rid of it, or believe that very roughly chopping out the original tumor was enough even after it had metastasized throughout society…
We have to really take the time as individuals and groups to examine these things without guilt and defensiveness stopping the examination before it begins.
This is not a dangerous ‘re-opening’ of old wounds. This is an illness deep in our bones and we have to understand it first before we get to claim ‘remission’.
Further reading:
Dear White people, stop saying you “don’t see color”.
Other Sections
Frequently Heard Claims
- “Racism is more of an American issue…”
- “I’m white and I’m not wealthy, I don’t have white privilege…”
- “Slavery happened years ago, why can’t people get over it?”
- “I have Black family and friends etc. I’m not racist…”
- “As a ‘white minority’ I’ve experienced more racism than Black people…”
- “I don’t see colour… Why don’t we just spread positivity?”
- “It’s not about race, it’s about class issue etc.”
- “Indentured servants were slaves too!”
- “Black workers are lazy.”
- “My Black friends & family agree with me on this…”
- “Every race segregate and hire their relatives and friends, not just White people”
- “There are many Black people who have done very well for themselves”
- “All Lives Matter”
- “The Nelson Statue should stay, we can’t change history!”
- “ Having conversations about race in Barbados is divisive and will only stir up hatred and violence…”
- “I don’t like the tones of these conversations when they become angry and extreme!”
- “Black people sold others into slavery; other cultures enslaved people throughout history”
- “Some Black people were treated well under slavery”
- “I’m not a fan of Blackout Tuesday. What does it accomplish?”
- “Changing all of these brand names is foolishness”
Now I want to talk to all my Black friends and family about racism!
