I understand the intent and meaning when the discussion of race is broached and White people say, “I really don’t see color.” It’s okay to open the blinds, take a look, there may be a rainbow after the storm.
People of color are not looking to be made invisible, invisibility is the root of the problem. Now let go of your head, stop saying that’s not what I mean and try to open yourselves to another point of view, this is not an insult. Differences should be celebrated for its additions to culture. The sun and the rain both play a crucial role in the survival of man, but you would not step out in a pouring rainstorm without some sort of cover to keep dry, so why step out in an ever-changing world of beauty and diversity without an umbrella of cognition. Saying you don’t see anyone’s color is like saying, “oh, will I get wet in the rain?” Music, art, language and food are courtesy of the some of its parts, and those parts include people of color. We seem to have no problem recognizing color for negativity but color too often vanishes when serenity is involved. Check out an online comment section when a Black or Brown assailant is involved, at some point the conversation devolves into racial attacks and a series of epithets.
These are not symptoms of being color blind they are symptoms of selective colorization. When was the last time you heard the phrase, what are the White leaders saying, during a national crisis or when a headline making crime, is committed by someone White? White privilege, allows for individual assessment. Unfortunately, for those of us who are not afforded this privilege, we get questioned at our jobs and social events, when a Black man or woman commits and offense, as if we have some inside knowledge into the thinking of others of color. Believe it or not we are just as appalled, just as outraged and just as angry at injustice. The dichotomy comes when people of color are pushed into a defensive posture, as if the race is on trial for the actions of a few and the compulsion to defend, what pejoratively becomes you, is triggered.
People of color have to resist this urge and people of non-color have to resist the defensive posture to purge. I live in Philadelphia, and heard a popular sports talk show radio host this past Saturday question why Cam Newton, the African-American quarterback of the Carolina Panthers football team, wears a towel over his head, sporting the Gatorade Logo, he wondered why he needed to make more money. “Doesn’t he make enough in salary” was his question. This was part of a diatribe criticizing his offensive (no pun intended) antics and behavior on the field of play. Is the question of marketing and making money ever in question for White Americans? Is the money being used for good is questioned, but no one would ever say, they make enough, why do they need more? The great equalizer of capitalism, truly should be color blind.