Conversations about color blindness and color consciousness
Color blindness removes certain negative barriers in a society. But there is a larger question behind what the author is trying to tackle. How does a majority support the minority population? Do we need a democratic system that treats all colors the same? Do we take racial distinctiveness into account and be granted equal value? The answer is “yes” for both, because the world has a diverse population. What about color consciousness as opposed to colorblindness that recognizes life’s diversity, especially for people from a different race or culture? One may argue that color blindness is just a way to avoid recognizing disadvantages some races faced in the past. But it also creates a cover for de facto inequality. Neutrality is nothing more than a cover that hides the blemishes of social tendencies that prefer one group over another.
In her study of colorblindness at schools as an ideology, the author observes that the colorblindness looks reasonable if the society is idealistic and not race-stratified. Since the society is stratified, we need to deconstruct racial stratification by giving importance to the significance of race. i.e. be color-conscious! For example, this may help keep the racial identity of an African American student in a white majority school. We must recognize that racial and cultural backgrounds play an important role in the development of young adolescents. A color-blind approach often means that the educator has not considered the meaning of racial/ethnic identity to the child.
In this book, the author suggests that we have a responsibility to hold individual teachers accountable whenever they perpetuate prejudice or discrimination. In addition, the school system must also help combat institutional racism by assisting the teachers who work with students directly on a day-to-day basis. This is an ambitious project, and I hope the author finds success.
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