Colorblindness as the New Racism & Color Insight as the Potential Solution

In the reading Colorblindness is the New Racism: Raising Awareness About Color Privilege Using Color Insight, authors Margalynne J. Armstrong and Stephanie M. Wildman argue that failure to examine the function of whiteness and white privilege in our society aids in the ongoing subjugation and discrimination of non-white people (64). The pair discusses this issue in the context of higher education, particularly within a law school setting, highlighting how, more often than not, U.S. jurisprudence and politics rely on perspectivelessness, a framework that upholds Colorblindness and race neutrality as the standard by which American legal affairs should be deciphered and determined, arguing that "[t]his incomplete understanding of the nature of white privilege, coupled with the modern move toward colorblindness, conceals the nature of much law and power" (65). As someone interested in studying law one day, I have many friends who, much to their frustration as desired agents of productive and positive change, can attest to having experienced the perspectivelessness framework firsthand in their law school classes. 

Authors Armstrong and Wildman propose color insight as a potential solution to our society's current and frankly longstanding obsession with Colorblindness as a means of overcoming racial inequality. The duo defines color insight as "an appropriate antidote to colorblindness, one that remedies the omission of context in racial discourse," requiring four steps: 

1. consideration for context in discussions regarding race
2. examination of systemic & systematic privilege
3. unpacking perspectivelessness and white normativeness
4. combating stereotypes by exercising empathy
   
   

Color Insight aims to celebrate and explain the importance of acknowledging racial differences, as it requires individuals to analyze the operation of race and privilege within our society (68). The authors suggest implementing a Power Line Chart as a means of helping individuals come to terms with their privilege or lack thereof. The powerline exercise discussed within the reading as an example of a way in which to go about promoting color insight and proverbially breaking the ice within education settings where some may feel uncomfortable discussing race and privilege reminded me of the "Take A Stand" activity and how that was an excellent jumping off point for this course that highlighted different perspectives on particular issues based on our individual lived experiences and the intersections of our various identities prompting introspection.

While reading this piece, a couple questions emerged for me:

1. When has the concept of whiteness, white people, and the idea of white privilege as it functions globally ever willingly been examined as the subject for authentic critique on a broad scale, and will it ever be?

2. "...how can they be discriminating if they do not think about non-Whites in a derogatory manner, especially when they are not thinking about race at all?" (63) Perhaps this line of thinking highlights the frustration some people experience with concepts like DEI, critical race theory, etc. If you don't see the problem, why discuss it?

"...white privileged as a knapsack of benefits of which the holder could remain oblivious. Yet the possessor of the knapsack of privilege could reliably depend on the advantages they provide, even though she or he remained unaware of them." (63)

                                 

This discussion on colorblind racism and white privilege also brought to mind similar ideas espoused by two other academics, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Robin DiAngelo, authors of Racism without Racists and White Fragility, respectively. 

                                       

A video of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, speaking at Brown University 10 years ago in a lecture titled "Why Can't We Just Get Along?: Race Matters in The Color-Blind Racial Moment"

A clip of author Robin DiAngelo explaining the concept of White Fragility on Amanpour & Co.:

Regarding the Vox article, Why you should stop saying "all lives matter," explained in 9 different ways, I felt validated as the arguments and examples presented all spoke to the frustration I had during 2020 when online trolls would retort the phrase, "all lives matter" as a counter to me a Black woman advocating on behalf of her community that continues to face undue violence due to the pervasive nature of white supremacy and racial bias within the United States.