Armstrong and Wildman's "Colorblindness is the New Racism" and Hobson's "Color Blind or Color Brave?"

 

Armstrong and Wildman’s “Colorblindness is the New Racism” and Hobson’s “Color Blind or Color Brave?”

 

The authors argue that colorblindness being the belief and lack of awareness around racial inequality can be interjected by color insight which is the recognition of racial inequality.

 

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: “Examining privilege must become a part of discrimination discourse which rarely recognizes that race discrimination involves exclusion from privileges that are accorded to White people or others who might be above the power line” (Armstrong and Wildman, page 64).  This quote resonates because we must reflect on our own unconscious biases and recognize and name the biases we have.  

“Public education in the United States provides one example of this process of attempts to attack privilege that serve to reinscribe it.  The law prohibits segregation in public schools yet inequality in opportunity and caliber of education remains rampant” (Ogletree, 2004) Page 64.  I thought this quote to be very interesting as it relates to the discussion we had last week in class about the fact being that schools today are still very segregated and quality of education from one school to another can differ greatly. 

Middle: “Color insight requires recognition of the myth of perspectivelessness and unmasking white normativeness” (Armstrong and Wildman, page 72).  We must, in a sense, unmask ourselves and dig deep and look within at our own “perspectivelessness” and “normativeness” and combat these with color insight. 

End: “Color insight does not provide a magic wand that dispenses with racism, but it does offer a vocabulary and some significant points of entry for deeper conversations” (Armstrong and Wildman, page 76).   

 

Reflection and Connection:

“It’s time for us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation about race… If we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity in America, we need to have real conversations about this issue.  We cannot afford to be colorblind, we have to be color brave… We have to be willing as teachers and parents and entrepreneurs and scientists, we have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race” (Hobson).  While reflecting on both the text and the Ted Talk, I was thinking about how I have heard people at work and in life say that they “don’t see color”,  and that they “treat everyone fairly”.  To not acknowledge race and privilege is essentially “whitewashing”.  Saying that you don’t see color, is like saying you don’t see part of someone’s identity and history.  In reflection, I have had to think about my own privilege when thinking about S.C.H.W.A.A.P as well. 

While watching the Ted Talk by Hobson, it made me think back to a previous Ted Talk I have watched by Verna Myers, titled, How to Overcome our Biases, Walk Boldly Toward Them.  These two Ted Talks connect well to one another because in Hobson's talk, she discusses the importance of being "comfortable with the uncomfortable", and Myers discusses in her talk, that it is important to walk boldly toward what you are uncomfortable with.  I will link Myers' Ted Talk here.  https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them