Color Insight

In "Colorblindness is the New Racism," Margalynne Armstrong and Stephanie Wildman argue that by departing from the privileged perspective of pretending to be "colorblind" and utilizing the framework and vocabulary of color insight, people will be able to engage in the deeper converations necessary to understand the function of race and privilege in the larger world. Their arguments are buttressed and supported by Mellody Hobson, as she builds on their ideas to discuss the incredible impact that can occur when these conversations happen. Whether finding a vaccine for smallpox or building the worldwide leader in sports, I thought Hobson's examples helped transition this topic to the opportunity cost of failing to find a space of color insight.

At the beginning of the text, Armstrong and Wildman emphasize the failures of a colorblind mindset. They state that failing to name and examine whiteness, whether in a classroom or a courtroom, obscures the operation of privilege. The quote that stands out to me is “The dominant norm of colorblindness obscures and maintains that status quo of white privilege.” They argue that the solution to this problem would be to teach how to analyze privilege in different spaces. 

Building on their rebuttal of colorblindness, Armstrong and Wildman describe how color insight can build a vocabulary for teaching across racial lines. While their examples infer an older group of students, Hobson’s example stays with me. She notes that as a four year old her mother was determined to present the world as it is, baring the dark truths of neighborhood bias, Santa Claus, and the impact that racial bias can have on a life. 

Both the text and video note that being informed about systemic inequity is necessary, productive and realistic. Hobson claims that it left her thinking that she could do anything. She even notes that it created a lifelong work ethic. I wonder if this would be true of many four-year-olds, or whether Hobson's clearly dedicated and encouraging mother was a necessary support as she navigated the grimmer realities of the world. It kept me thinking about institutional conditions that need to exist in support of this educational practice.

In the examples of educational techniques to foster color insight towards the end of the text, I found myself thinking a great deal about Melody Hobson's points regarding diverse environments being the strongest environments. Think about the color line activity in a wealthy Rhode Island classroom. How isolating would it be to be one or two students in that classroom who consistently circle "below the line" attributes? Would you have created a hostile environment for a small number of students for the benefit of their privileged counterparts? I think you could make the argument that these types of educational practices need to be incorporated only after the school has really considered how this is a holistic practice, rather than isolated lessons.  

One final example that Hobson shared stayed with me. She noted that she was going to counter a stereotype about race by sharing how much she loves swimming. And yet, even though it was to share a story about perseverance, I couldn't stop fixating on the casual dismissal of a systemic issue. In Rhode Island, we lose children every year when they drown in Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. And they drown because they are never taught to swim, which stems from that negative stereotype.  So in conclusion, I want to plug Ray Rickman and Stages of Freedom. Ray teaches free swim lessons to scores of children in Providence every year, because at some point, waiting for systemic change doesn't work.