Color Blind Society

Story time. At my work, my boss (and close friend) happens to white and her boss happens to be black. The two young women were talking about a work related topic, and my boss described something as "ghetto" to her boss. Her boss responded with a formal six paragraph email chastising her for using the term which she took as a direct insult to the black community. In the email, her boss accused her of being unprofessional, insensitive, and uneducated. I became aware of this because my boss (and close friend) called me crying. This email ruined her night. She didn't know if her position with the company would be threatened, if her professional relationship with this person had been destroyed, or if the respect of her colleagues had been lost. One simple word created a terrible situation. My friend had never associated being black with being ghetto. Instead the black girl assumed and took quick insult. Is this being conscious to your culture's history or oversensitive?

I think there is a fine line between remembering your background and culture and, in a way, using it as a crutch. No matter what race, it is a commonality for one to assume something occurred because they are that specific race. For instance, as a white person, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you didn't get into a certain college because you're white. It is true that university's have a ethnicity quota to fill, but a student shouldn't use that policy as an excuse for not getting in. As far past racism as we have come in our nation's recent history, you would think it would be to a point of not falling into this trap.

The term "colorblind society" has raised questions and concerns. Many think that this is the white person's excuse for not acknowledging the disadvantages that the non-white population faces. Although I am white and can't speak for an African-American person, or any person of color for that matter, I feel this mindset is poison. A colorblind society simply disregards the color of a person's skin as a factor of decision or judgement. As much of a no-brainer like this seems, one should be judged "by the content of their character" instead of "the color of their skin," as Martin Luther King Jr. said. This instance that between my coworkers really struck deep reflection about racism and equality in our culture today. It seems as if in such an effort to fight racism, our culture has set impossible standards and created an assumptive and hyper sensitive culture.

http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-experts-03-01.htm