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Is the Emphasis on a Color Blind Society the Answer to Racism?

Essay by   •  November 27, 2011  •  Essay  •  1,026 Words (5 Pages)  •  2,997 Views

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When looking on the surface, it seems as though a color blind society would be the perfect solution to all of our racism woes. I, on the other hand, believe that a "color blind" society only intensifies racial barriers. Like George M. Fredrickson said, "In all manifestations of racism from the mildest to the most severe, what is being denied is the possibility that the racializers and the racialized can coexist in the same society, except perhaps on the basis of domination and subordination."

Although some may argue that the emphasis on a color blind society really is the answer to racism, they fail to realize that it only serves as a crutch for people to feign ignorance where racial issues are concerned.

To begin, a color blind society blind society is not the answer to racism because achieving a color blind society is impossible; too much social stigma that comes along with being black or a dark-skinned minority. For example, whenever I walk into a store or any retail establishment, I am stalked. I am stalked because the second I walked into the store I was red flagged as a possible thief or a potential problem. It's not because of my behavior, or my attire, it's because of an outfit of an entirely different kind; my skin. I was pegged as problematic because of my black skin, a factor in which I had no control. I was once told "To be a black person in this world is the worst type of person to be." At first, I thought the person the person who told me this was just being a nuisance, but as I got older I began to understand exactly what he meant. To be black is this world is to be a belligerent, uneducated, ignorant, loose cannon of a human being; an ulcer on the skin of mankind. This is why an emphasis on a color blind society can never be the answer to racism because no matter how much someone "disregards my skin color" and actually judges me based on merit, I will always be just the ignorant black girl because my behavior was already predetermined based on my black skin.

Another reason the emphasis on a color blind society could never be the answer to racism is because "blacks and dark skinned racial minorities lag well behind whites in virtually every area of social life." (Eduardo Bonilla-Silva "Racism without Racist: Color Blind Racism..."). How is possible that in a country where "equality" is peddled like drugs, whites still reign as the "superior race?" According to the passage, "Racism without Racists; Color Blind Racism... in the United States", blacks and dark skinned minorities are thrice as likely to be poor more so than their white counterparts, they posses about 1/10 the net worth of whites, and they are 6 times less likely to get a job than whites. Not only are we socially inferior but economically too. To make matters worse, black and other dark skinned minorities also receive in inferior education compared

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