Why Being Colour-Blind Isn’t Good Enough

When I first saw the words blacklivesmatter on social media back in 2013, my brain’s first response was to think “all lives matter”. I didn’t say it out loud or post it, but I thought it. However it didn’t take me long to figure out that my response was, at best, meaningless, and at worst racist. Since then I’ve tried to educate myself more about what white privilege means, and as I keep seeing “All Lives Matter” and other similar comments all over Facebook this week, I thought I’d try and share some of what I’ve learnt.

I was raised in a “progressive” family, and as such was encouraged to be colour-blind; to see all people just as people, of equal value regardless of skin colour. And of course I try my best to do just that. It is a perfectly laudable goal and at a fundamental level is so clearly a self-evident truth. But the reality is that the society we live in is not colour-blind. It does not treat people equally regardless of their skin colour. People of colour navigate our society carrying a handicap every step of the way. Plenty of studies have shown that statistically, having white skin gives you an advantage over people of colour in almost every aspect of getting on in life, whether it’s education, job prospects, health, or treatment by the authorities and police. That is what it means to have white privilege. And it is in this context that the colour-blind argument can go from being a valid ideal to becoming a tool to shut down debate.

I just read a comment on facebook where a white lady said (in agreement with someone who had posted “All Lives Matter”), “I hate all this! We are all just human!”. And of course she’s not wrong. But what does her comment mean in context? Instead of calling out the police brutality, saying “we are all just human and therefore we should be treated equally”, she’s calling out the victims for highlighting their difference. In this context she’s basically saying she doesn’t want to be reminded that racism still exists, because in her bubble of white privilege she doesn’t experience it. This view implies that racism is a monster that only has power when you say it’s name. That the act of categorising human beings is to blame, and if we just say we are all equal then it will be so. Perhaps she sees her comment as an expression of her progressive values, showing that she is colour-blind and would never judge a person based on race. But in reality she is telling the BLM protestors to be quiet and stop raising uncomfortable questions.

I saw a tv debate a few years ago between white canadian professor Jordan Peterson and african-american academic and preacher Michael Dyson. Peterson was dismissing Dyson’s claims that structural racism is a problem that needs to be addressed, and instead claiming that “identity politics” was the problem: black people identifying as black. Dyson replied something along the lines of, “I’ll stop identifying as a “black man” when I can walk down the street and not be seen as one through the eyes of my fellow white americans”. In other words, it’s all very well to imagine a world in which categories of race, gender, sexuality and class are no longer relevant, but that isn’t the world we currently live in.

So in response to the people posting “All Lives Matter”, I can only assume you have intentionally chosen to see the words “ONLY Black Lives Matter” instead of “Black Lives Matter TOO”, which is quite clearly the meaning behind the slogan. I can’t blame you for having those words pop into your head; as I said, they came into my mind also. But when you post them online and start trying to justify them, maybe it’s time to ask yourself what you’re trying to achieve? Who are you defending? And from what?

You may be thinking “I don’t feel like I have white privilege”. Me neither. The fact that I don’t “identify” myself as a white person with privilege is a perfect example of white privilege. I live in a white world where to be white is to be normal. Society does not remind me every day that I am white. This is white privilege. It doesn’t mean that my life is easy, it just means it would be harder if I was black. White privilege is essentially an absence of the barriers faced by people of colour.

These are just some of my thoughts (informed and inspired by things I’ve read and people I’ve spoken to). There is so much more to say, but I just wanted to respond to a few of the things I’ve been reading today. This is a journey for all of us, and it’s on us to do the work. As so many people are (thankfully) now saying, it’s not enough to “not be racist”. We need to be anti-racist. And to do that we need to recognise the structural racism inherent in a system that puts our needs as white people above the needs of our BAME friends, colleagues, family members and fellow citizens. We need to call out racism wherever we see it, not just the overt UKIP kind, but also the subtle, insidious kind that bubbles to the surface the moment the topic of race is raised. We need to challenge our friends, co-workers, and family members, even if that might be uncomfortable for us. This news cycle will be over before too long and everyone will move on to a new topic. White people will then be able to exercise their privilege to forget all about race again until the next police killing. Unless we choose not to.

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If you’re interested in learning more then I highly recommend “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge. Her book really unpacks racism from a British perspective.