We Can Stop Saying “I Don’t See Color”
A case for dropping the all too common response to race relations in America.
During my undergrad years my friend David introduced me to a concept I never thought about before. He told me that sometimes helping hurts. He was referencing this book written by Steve Corbett and the idea that our actions propelled by good intentions aren’t always the best thing for the person in need. An example of this comes from an old parable we all know:
give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Yes, you’re helping someone by giving them a fish, but you’re also hurting that person by making them dependent on you. Little did I know that this idea would apply to how I was treating the disconnect between races.
I was once an avid proponent for the “I don’t see color” response to race relations. That was my way of saying that I treat everyone equally regardless of race. I really thought I was helping the situation by saying that. What I would come to realize is that by perpetuating that idea I was actually hurting the situation. But how?
My intentions were pure and I think my heart was in the right place, but I recently come to realize that by removing color from my worldview I was stripping people of their identity, their history, their culture, and other things that create their unique narrative. I was reconstructing my own reality outside of creation. I was taking everyone’s individuality and forming them to be identical to the next person completely neglecting the context of their being. When you say you don’t see color you choose to see people partially, not in their entirety.
Step away from color and take that viewpoint in another direction. Let’s say you know someone who has lived most of their life in a wheelchair. Now imagine saying to that person, “I don’t see able-bodied versus disabled. All I see is a human being.” That comes off as a little weird doesn’t it? In trying to depict equality you shut out experiences that were instrumental to that person’s upbringing. The reality is they grew up differently than you. That’s a reality that we can’t be naive to.
So then what? What are we to say? Well, instead of saying “I don’t see color” we can say, “I see color, but that doesn’t effect how I’m going to treat you as a person. I’ll treat you like everyone else. It doesn’t change the love I have for you. I admire you for who you are, how you were created to be, and I want to fully acknowledge your experiences and stand by you in any way I can.”
The only places where we shouldn’t see color is in the dark. When we step into the light we should be able to not only see color, but appreciate it as part of creation and part of our world.
