Assignment #2: Rethinking Colorblindness: All Lives Matter

Colorblindness is the New Racism by Armstrong and Wildman

Before I get into the main idea of this article, first the difference between colorblindness and color insight needs to be discussed.

As stated in the article on page 68, color insight requires practitioners to "observe, discuss, and analyze the operation of race and privilege in contemporary society".  In short, color insight asks me us to acknowledge my race and the race of others.  In doing do, I, as identified by society as a White person, bring to the table privilege just because I am white and at the same time, recognize that non-White, people of color are are denied certain things simply because they are non-White.  

Colorblindness is the stark opposite of color insight.  Colorblindness asks that race is not acknowledged or noticed.  

In class, I brought up an incident that occurred last year during an evacuation at my school.  I shared with the class that as we were evacuating students, a mother was trying to get into the building.  Protocol, as determined by my administration, is to not allow anyone in the building during an evacuation.  When I addressed this mother, I was immediately hit with resistance. She was going to do whatever she needed to do to get into the building to find her child.  I stood my ground and was immediately accused of being a racist.  Yes, I am White; this mother was a person of color.  During this event, my sole concern was to evacuate my students to safety and try to keep others safe from the situation.  The mother insisted had she been a White person, I would have let he into the building. From my perspective, I am positive I would not have.  As I write this, I am still upset by the accusation of being a racist.

As I recall the discussion in class, my professor made a eye-opening statement: to acknowledge the statement, "to let the person know, I hear what you are saying", goes a long way in the discussion of race and understanding.  For me, I was simply following protocol, attempting to keep her safe.  For her, being a person of color, everything has to do with race, her race.

As defined by Fiske and Newberg, 1990, color insight admits that "most of us see race and underlines the need to understand what that racial awareness might mean".  This is further explained that, "people form impressions of others through a variety of processes that "lie on a continuum reflecting the extent to which the perceiver utilizes a target's particular characteristics". 

As I understand this to be, while I did not "see'  this woman's race, every action of mine pointed, in her mind, to her race.  Until I sat in class this past Wednesday night, I never would have considered this point.  For me, my actions and my intent were clear; that is from my perspective. As the saying goes, communication lies with the receiver.  Clearly, what the person received was far removed from my intent.

This brings me to the clip, All Lives Matter.  Prior to watching this video clip, I have to admit, I have used the argument, ALL LIVES MATTER when the conversation was on Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter.  I truly believed in that argument, that one life mattered no more than the next life. After viewing this clip, I have been humbled.  As a White person, I have never waked into a store and been assessed as to my intent.  As a White person, I suspect I will not be randomly stopped during traffic as being 'suspicious' or 'acting suspiciously'. I never considered that the argument that "All Lives Matter' was adding to the racial divide or that I was diminishing the real injustices faced by people of color.  

I have been in this class for just one week and it has already made an impact on my personal life.  As stated on page 67, "Learning about White privilege is not intuitive for Whites because social norms of the privileged become the generalized normative expectations of marginalized groups, providing group members the option of remaining ignorant and avoidant of awareness of both privilege and oppression".  Further stated in the article, "Whites must make a conscious effort to notice and learn about the operation of privilege and subordination". 

I do not believe I have ever felt a better  and conscious understanding as to what privilege is and how my life has been affected by it.  More importantly, how to I positively impact those lives of those I serve, teach, and live in this society.

Colorblindness vs Color insight in the classroom