Article- DiAngelo

Media type: Article

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism

Concept source: DiAngelo

There has been a movement of color-blind racism in America. Color-blind racism completely disregards the skin tone, ethnicity and race of a person. Those who encourage color-blind racism believe that ignoring a person's skin color creates equality and puts them on the same “playing field”, as it were. These people are typically well off white folks. The cited article puts it this way: “A colorblind approach allows us to deny uncomfortable cultural differences.” When we ignore someone’s race, we ignore their history and culture which makes up a huge part of a person's identity. We essentially invalidate a large part of understanding someone who may be different for us. This prevents any type of learning and growing to happen. Instead of dealing with an issue head on, it smothers and suppresses it.

Author DiAngelo says that “Racism is a deeply embedded, multidimensional, and internalized system that all members of this society are shaped by,” (pg.186). Ignoring a person's race doesn’t just ignore a single person, it ignores a group of people and a history between you and them. No healing can occur unless a dialog is present. Color-blind racism prevents any part of that from happening. DiAngelo finishes her article off by explaining that through centering racism has had a profound way to address all the complexities of her social locations (pg. 187). As a white woman, she found that by putting racism in the center of her analysis, rather than avoiding it, she was able to unravel numerous other socializations and how they works together to support social hierarchies.

DiAngelo, Robin J. "My Class Didn't Trump My Race: Using Oppression to Face Privilege." Race, Class,

   and Gender in the United States, compiled by Paula Rothenberg, 10th ed., Worth Publishers,

   2016, pp. 181-87.

Williams, Monnica T. "Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism." Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,

   27 Dec. 2011, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/

   colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism. Accessed 17 Nov. 2018.