Is It Better to See Color or to Be Colorblind?

Well, what do you think? Is it better to see color or to be colorblind?

I recently picked up The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The Help is a novel that gives the reader an insight into the lives of Black maids during the Jim Crow era. It follows Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter, a White woman that wants to tell their stories.

From the moment you pick up the book, you are forced to think about the racism of that time. Just in the first 20 pages, the novel shows that some Whites thought that Blacks were dirty and even had diseases that were not carried by Whites. The novel also shows how White neighborhoods were bigger and nicer than the predominately Black neighborhoods. While reading, I thought a lot about the concept of race and my own skin color. Yes, we have come a long way since the Jim Crow era, but it would be foolish to say that race doesn't still play a huge role in today's society.

(Want to know more about the Jim Crow era? Click here.)

When the concept of race is brought up today, there are a lot of people that will claim that they "don't see color" and they'll say it like it's a good thing. But is it really a good thing to be "colorblind"?

The basic idea behind colorblindness is that you are the kind of person that doesn't treat someone different because their skin color is not the same as yours and that's fantastic! However, when someone says that they are "colorblind" they may also be turning a blind eye to the fact that racism still exists and yes, so does White privilege.

Check out this video from MTV News that discusses race and why being colorblind does absolutely nothing to stop racism.

The video mentions that it is important to see color to understand how racism is systematic and to help find solutions to fix the system. I totally agree with this! So why are people so quick to claim colorblindness?

Coming from the POV of a white female, I think people claim to be colorblind so that they aren't labeled as a "racist". I know I am definitely guilty of using the "I don't see color" line but I soon realized that acknowledging racism doesn't actually make anyone a racist. Shocking, I know. It's important to know that you can see color without enforcing negative stereotypes about people of color.

So, what do we do? Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know how to change an entire system but I do know that it doesn't happen overnight. It's frustrating, but a lot of baby steps are involved. The first and most important thing we can do is acknowledge that systematic and institutional racism exists and that we need to talk about it. Secondly, I challenge all of my readers to start questioning the world around them, especially the institutions they are directly involved with. 

Change starts with us.