A Colorblind Society

Stacey Ragin

Professor Cohen

Intro to AA History

October 27, 2015

A Colorblind Society

Many people in America today try to ignore the presence of race. Often times, people even go as far as to claim that they do not even see color when they look at people. This seems to happen mostly among people of the white community, who often seem to be driven more by the denial of their own privileges than the color of my skin or yours. I believe that a “colorblind society” can never exist in the world as a cure all of discrimination. I also believe that claiming that we live in such a society is actually more hurtful than it is helpful. Furthermore, in my opinion, any minorities who agree with the idea of a “colorblind society” are foolishly mistaken.

It is very hard for people to own up to their own faults and privileges as well as it is hard for them to accept the guilt that their forefathers have placed into them. White people often find it hard to admit that they have unfair advantages and receive opportunities at a disproportionately high rate juxtaposed to black and other minority individuals in this country. Many people do not want to feel like they got anything handed to them or unfairly took a position from someone more deserving of it, but rather that they worked hard from it. This causes them to be very defensive when their own privilege is discussed and sometimes even aggravated when unfairness to minorities is talked about. Although it may make them feel good, this does nothing for the fact that minorities are still mistreated in this country and white people are privileged in more ways than one based solely on the color of their skin rather than what they bring to the table. Although I can understand why a person wouldn't want to live with that kind of guilt, there are other ways that these feelings can be expressed that would be helpful to the cause rather than seen as hurtful by the victims of the problem.

As some members of society remain adamant that an American colorblind society is attainable, I am sure that it is not. Regardless of skin tone, there will always be some sort of trait or status that people use for discrimination. This leads me to believe that even if people stopped focusing on race, they would quickly find something else to replace it with. For one reason or another, it seems impossible for the inhabitants of this world to live in perfect peace or harmony. There always seems to be a need for people to validate themselves and boost their own confidence and bank accounts, even if it is done at the expense of another.

In the US the possibilities of having a non discriminatory society are especially low. This country was built from the “us against them” mentality of Europeans, who used skin color as the deciding factor of what a person’s life would be like. The inequality and injustice that minorities faced, whether they be African or Native American, were unparalleled. To this day, we are trained to see the difference in skin color and studies show that even little children link success to racial identity. Seeing race is what we are made of. The jobs we are able to receive, the cars we are able to buy and the houses we are able to own are all dependent on these things. I do not believe that ignoring skin color does anything to erase the years of stereotypes and propaganda that have been fed to us for years.

There will also always be members of the “dominant” group that do not want to give up the privilege that they have done nothing to obtain. Just like during the civil war, people will fight for what they believe are their rights or what they believe that they are entitled to. Not many people are willing to cut down on their own stocks or privileges in order to make room for other people to succeed.

Many people who have suffered from the effects of racism do not want much as far as reparations. Mainly, we ask for help when getting out of the situations that we were placed in and empathy. The only way we can have true racial