Since a young age I have been taught this lesson of colorblindness, that there is no black or white, or anything else. There are just people, and that makes us all the same. The problem with this is that for there to be the statement of “there is no skin color” we have to be reverting back to some base, some point of similarity, and when it comes down to it, that point of assimilation is really saying “we are all just white,” because that is where the system of power is shifted.”
Equality isn’t forcing colorblindness on a society, or ignoring race. Equality isn’t about integrating race to one point of being. It is recognizing that there is skin color, recognizing that there are different cultures, and having respect for the above. In plain terms, accepting the phrase ‘we are all just people’ is an absolute cop out. It is a way for white individuals to separate themselves from what is happening. It is a way to sleep easier at night. It is a way to denounce racism as an active problem not only in America, but globally.
So, when the news reports that another young African American citizen has been shot down in the street, or when we read articles about police violence, or utter the N-word even with the knowledge of its oppressive abilities, we can say “no, racism is dead, because there is no skin color.” And the big fallacy of it all is we have generation after generation thinking that ignoring a problem directly equates to there not being one at all. Our country was built on the backs of men, women and children who were told they were 3/5 human; men and women who were written off as property next to the mules and horses, a country whose judicial system benefited from the exploitation of non white races.
Racism isn’t over because we haven’t eradicated the system. Racism isn’t over because people won’t even acknowledge that it exists.
Yes, saying “I don’t see color” is synonymous with “I don’t believe in priviledge or oppression.” Saying “we are all just people” is sweeping an age old problem under the rug for the sake of ignorance.
A great example of this is white people taking the #BlackLivesMatter movement and trying to trend it as #AllLivesMatter. Which, in itself, is missing the entire point completely. Because, as a white person, I can say that white people are horrible at not making things about themselves. We are privileged, and a lot of the time, don’t realize it. My point is that #BlackLivesMatter is a beautiful movement against the violence of African American people. I will repeat, African American. Yet there is a huge push to turn it around into a movement that included everyone, which is, once again, going so far past the actual point that it is almost laughable. Sure, I’ll throw a bone here and say that all lives do matter, but it isn’t all lives that are being shot down in the streets by cops. At its core, the attempt at #AllLivesMatter shows a fear rooted in racism, the same fear that is at the core of white supremacist groups.
Privileged groups fear the empowerment and success of oppressed groups. White people fear the empowerment and success of African Americans because of the way our country has worked in the favor of white people since the beginning of time. White people are afraid of what the system will look like when it isn’t skewed in our favor.
White people have had their time; we have had all the time there is to take. And that is why this is happening. Because white people didn’t just live in the time, live in the society, we took it. We didn’t just coincide with other cultures, we dismantled them until we could water it down into something we liked. We did it with rock n roll, Native tribal practices, the entirety of our expansion through the continent. We took all of it, and now that it is being taken back, and the scale is tipping, we cry out that it is unfair. When you have lived in priviledge it seems like injustice when there is a movement to make it equal.
Pro-black isn’t anti-white, and if you think it is, then maybe it’s you who is anti-something.
