By Ben Tapper
“I have a dream that one day, my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
This may be the most famous quote from the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It inspires hope that racism might one day end. Unfortunately, it also inspires a dangerous naivety. This naivety is exemplified in four simple words.
“I don’t see color.”
This sentence is spoken to defuse fears of racism or prejudice in the speaker, and to provide assurance that they don’t think of people of color as beneath their white counterparts. While it is well-meaning, there is a glaring problem with this line of thought. It presumes that seeing color, or noticing difference is the problem and the solution is to pretend we’re all the same. However, once we take an honest look at our history, we quickly notice that we’re misdiagnosing the problem.
The problem is whiteness. Whiteness as a construct, and thus race itself, was born out of a need to justify the colonization and enslavement of black and brown people. If darker-skinned people (think native Americans, Yoruba or bantu people, etc…) were savages, intellectually inferior, or more violent than Europeans, then it was a good thing to conquer them, civilize them and bring them Jesus by any means necessary.
Race and racial discrimination evolved to legitimize the dehumanization and oppression of people of color so that the white consciousness could benefit without guilt or offense. Seen through this lens, the problem is not that my skin is darker than yours. The problem is that whiteness always seeks to eliminate that which isn’t white.
What people miss when they claim to be colorblind is that they’re only whitening their environment. To say I don’t see color is to say everyone looks the same. What they aren’t saying, and likely aren’t aware of, is that sameness often equals whiteness. If the people in your house are white, and your coworkers are mostly white, and your church is mostly white, and the actors you see on tv are mostly white, etc…your worldview is firmly rooted in whiteness.
After years of holding this standard, it operates as a de-facto lens through which you see the world. As a result, you begin to unintentionally center or normalize whiteness and everything that does not align with whiteness becomes either a novelty to be ogled (can I touch your hair) or an annoyance to be eliminated (Shut up and dribble).
When you say, “I don’t see color”, you’re also saying “I don’t see you.” You’re centering whiteness and erasing the parts of me that don’t fit your worldview. Our differences should be honored and respected as that which makes us holy, unique and human. Dr. King dreamt in color, and so should we.
The next time you hear someone say they don’t see color, pause and ask them what they do see.
Chances are, it isn’t me.
Ben Tapper has graduate degrees from Indiana University and Christian Theological Seminary. He hosts a podcast and blog called Invisible Truths and is the co-founder of the Kindred Collective which gives voice to equity through racial bias training and healing dialogue programs.
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