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Rising Star
It’s not racist to say that. They look at people for who they are as individuals not for their race. End of story.
People are going to read my last comment and make 1000 judgements about me. I am coming at this from a genuine place of sincerity and not hate. Engage me and let’s discuss. Let me prove that I may think differently, but I am not the enemy.
Rising Star
Ugh. It is a person trying to say they are above all the issues of racism.
It was a phrase in the 90s, surely there is enough internet to teach people to stop saying it.
It's lazy. It tells me you're a bit dumb or willfully ignorant.
You might not be a white supremacist but you still benefit from white supremacy. The "I don't see color," phrase pretends that's not true and ignores the lived experience of many.
D9 I don’t see what generalizations are being made. I would like to understand what I said or what I generalized that you considered racist. I truly would like an understanding so I can see where you’re coming from.
Chief
To be honest I’m still confused by this whole thing and I’m not being a jerk, I’m honestly trying to tell you I don’t understand. I said earlier that I thought “not seeing color” was accepted because other people are pissed if I don’t say the right term when it’s clear I have no ill intention. I grew up learning African American was acceptable. Then I was told black is more proper unless someone actually emigrated from Africa, then African American is accurate. Then I was told Black with a capital B is proper. Then I was told People of Color is proper.
I said earlier I felt as my kids are growing up they are very close with all races through school, and my kids’ Principal is Black, their best and favorite and closest teachers are Black, their friends are Black and Hispanic and Asian and have friends that have moved here from Africa, from China, from Venezuela, from Korea, from Vietnam, from Sri Lanka, from Zimbabwe, and from Italy. So I said my kids don’t really see color, they don’t care who looks different from them.
I was talking to my sister-in-law tonight and she said “her kids don’t see color” as their best friends are different races than their own.
I’m not trying to downplay anyone’s struggles, I’m not “virtue signaling” or trying to be “tone deaf”, I’m honestly telling I’m confused what I’m still doing wrong as I’m still being told “well you must be racist then.” Honestly, I don’t know what to do 🤷🏼♂️ Hopefully if you actually talk to me or my kids for five minutes you will realize we are fucking trying man. I don’t know what else to say.
This is so stupid. It’s not about winning. What you mean is that you don’t judge people by the color of their skin. BUT you do see their skin color as in the examples and do understand some contexts where that may have meaning. You may know of some unfriendly parts of your community to Black or Hispanic people in general and may think twice before bringing your kids and friends to those areas or situations. There may be other examples where you’d consider, in general, that not everyone is on the same plane as your kids when it comes to race.
That consideration is where you do see color. It’s an inaccurate phrase for what you mean. It’s also a trigger for people who feel they have to be aware of their own skin color in certain situations and it feels like you’re overlooking that. If you are an Ally or just a good person, you will understand that you should upgrade your language.
An analogy: you have friends who are wheelchair bound. But you want to say you don’t treat people differently due to physical disabilities. You don’t say I don’t see disabilities. You also don’t take said friends to buildings, restaurants, areas of town that are hard to navigate with a wheelchair because you consider them as you interact with them.
No. I’m all about BLM, but I feel like now people are actively trying to make everything about race. There was a better way to phrase that, yes, but it was said to be supportive
This. Without any context, I would guess it was well intentioned but misses the mark today.
Pro
I’ve noticed a tendency where the same people in a business environment who say “I don’t see color” also say “I don’t see color, I only see talent,” but are blind to the filtering systems, full of bias, that consistently put only one kind (and usually, shade) of talent in front of them.
They say things like, “It’s not my fault that no one of color ever applies to my job openings,” but don’t see that they only ever let white friends and recruiters know about the job openings in the first place. Then they’re shocked (shocked!) that they get no diverse candidates.
So I tend to interpret “I don’t see color” as “I don’t (yet) see the the biased filtering systems all around me.”
Can I get a list of what won’t offend? This is honestly tough.
Rising Star
I think it's spelled waifu
Pro
Can't see race = doesn't notice racism
EY 2 you really think you’re doing something in all these comments 😂 perhaps try listening to what others are saying?
Pro
Yes but it was the go to phrase in the 90s. They are trying to be politically correct but I would work on educating them as to why.
They’ll learn much faster if you inter them in a Soviet-style re-education camp.
We’re all racist. Claiming to be “not racist” or to “not see color” is a claim of neutrality in a struggle where being unprejudiced is impossible. As Ibram X. Kendi explains in “How To Be An Antiracist,” the goal is to be anti-racist by acknowledging and confronting racial inequities, and continuing to learn and grow as we work to undo racism.
— — —
When we meet people, our brains readily make judgments about them. These judgments result from many things, such as previous experiences with similar people, how the media portrays these people, what our parents taught us about them, and how they behaved towards them in front of us.
…
The consequences of this brain arrangement can lead to disastrous societal issues such as racism and prejudice.
– Marwa Azab Ph.D., from “Racism and the Brain”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuroscience-in-everyday-life/202006/racism-and-the-brain
— — —
Denial is the heartbeat of racism, beating across ideologies, races and nations. …
What’s the problem with being “not racist”? It is a claim that signifies neutrality: “I am not a racist, but neither am I aggressively against racism.” But there is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of “racist” isn’t “not racist.” It is “antiracist.” … There is no in between space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist" neutrality is a mask for racism.... This may sound harsh, but it’s important at the outset that we apply one of the core principals of antiracism, which is to return the word “racist” itself back to its proper usage. “Racist” is not — as Richard Spencer argues — a pejorative. It is not the worst word in the English language; it is not the equivalent of a slur. It is descriptive, and the only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it — and then dismantle it. The attempt to turn this usefully descriptive term into an almost unusable slur, is, of course, designed to do the opposite: to freeze us into inaction.
– “How To Be An Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi
https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist-1
Please tell me what Kool Aid I've been fed.
If I am completely honest I am naive on race issues. I don’t consider myself racist but I am not nearly as culturally aware as I should be. I don’t live in a very diverse area and am somewhat sheltered. I don’t recall ever using this particular phrase but I could see me saying it. I am not very good at identifying races by appearance so while I can see someone is dark, light, olive, etc I am never sure what to say in that respect so I avoid it most of the time.
I respect partner 1 for admitting and being vulnerable to something they lack expertise in. I wish that people who are not culturally aware would speak in this manner. I wish you take the appropriate steps to learn more about how you can be culturally aware so that you can lead your people effectively
As an African American man I don’t think it’s racist. We seriously need to grow up. It’s stuff like this that makes people not want to engage in real conversations.
Chief
Thank you Deloitte 5.....that’s the thing, I do want to engage and grow and my want my kids to engage and grow. It’s hard at times when the first reaction is “well you must be racist then”. All I want is a real dialogue, not just “do this or you’re racist”
Enthusiast
Why is it racist?
Enthusiast
Another article here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/minority-report/201602/i-dont-see-color
Chief
I thought not seeing color was the cool way of saying you are woke to racial issues?
Uhhhhh....no. It is an ignorant way to say it doesn’t affect you and you don’t care.
Not racist...
No 🙄
This is a fine example of why you can’t have a productive conversation about improving society anymore. The majority of comments in this thread jump immediately to the judgement that whoever says ‘I don’t see color’ or ‘all lives matter’ or other phrase not approved by the progressive movement as being a racist. At that point the opportunity for conversation is over. You have told the person that you condemn them as full of hate and an attack on POC and their culture, if not your person directly. 99%+ of the comments in this thread immediately say such a person is racist, naive, ignorant, etc.
What they might be saying is that they make every attempt to embrace diversity and not let race and all of the identity politics impact how they treat people. It means they try their damnedest to treat people the same. Is it easy? No. Is it naive? No. Maybe you should tall to them and ask how they’ll a little more about their philosophy of interacting with people of all races. You might learn something you hadn’t considered before. Isn’t that what we SHOULD be striving for?
We will get nowhere if everyone is only looking for evil intentions to spin out of anything someone says or writes. 100% of the condemnations in the comments of this post are assumptions, innuendo, and show your personal biases against people by taking ‘I don’t see color’ and jumping to ‘you’re a racist.’ Maybe they didn’t say what they meant in the exact way that is ‘approved’ by the loudest voices being spotlighted in the media. That’s called the 1st amendment.
Maybe take a step back from your bias and anger and try ‘I’m sure you “see” color, but help me understand what you mean by that and how you factor, or de-factor color or race in your interactions with POC.
Discussion, civil conversation, respectful debate, sympathy, honesty, ethics. There is no other way through this other than anger, violence, division. Which do you want? Why would anyone choose the latter, unless destruction is their purpose?
See, Accenture 1, now YOU sound like someone I could have an intelligent and productive conversation with. Others on the thread just continue with the ‘that’s ignorant’ or ‘that’s tone deaf’ laziness. Change is hard, which is why most just yell and call people lazy names to shut them up - because they aren’t willing to work through real issues and have the hard conversations with honesty and compromise and hold up the mirror to take a long look. And through it all, you have to respect that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if you think it’s tone deaf or passé. Yelling definitely won’t change opinions.
#keepwashingyourhands
#wearamask
I mean you know them and heard them say it so you should decide for yourself if you think they meant ill will by saying it. Why would you ask a bunch of strangers who have no context or knowledge of this person?
It is inherently not racist. I would like to believe that the person sees all other people being of equal dignity. Perhaps one day we can live in a world where "skin color is like hair color...it does not matter."
I love that analogy! Like, yeah, we see hair color but we don't let it impact our thinking about someone.
Enthusiast
You sure the guy wasn’t saying he has deficiencies that make it hard for him to distinguish red and green?
Rising Star
Or yellow and blue!
Tritanopia-sufferers lives matter!
Rising Star
My experience is when people say "they don't see color/race" it is usually going to be followed up by some low-key racist actions. Best case scenario, they'll follow it up by dismissing the discrimination I or other black/brown folk face.
So, it's a pretty stupid thing to say at the least. You would almost never find a black or brown person saying "I don't see color" because the skin color we have is a part of our identity.
Chief
Are then blind? OK then.
Are they not blind? Nope.