No such thing as Colorblind

           Racism and racial inequalities seem to be particularly hot topics of our society in this day and age.  In chapter 7 of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s Racism without Racists, white college students were interviewed about their views on minorities and the laws regarding them. Many would say that all white people are racists or at least have some racial tendencies. However the findings concluded that there most certainly are white racial progressives whom do not have prejudices or discriminate against other races. Yes our society is filled with many white people claiming to be “colorblind” (which we all know is not the case) but there are those who truly believe in equality. Many white people do not support affirmative action and think that they are somehow being treated unfairly when they did not do anything wrong. But I would chalk this up to be white people not being knowledgeable about the struggles other races face and have faced for many years. Staci, one of the female interviewees believes that being white is an advantage and when you have white-skin privilege “things are more accessible to you. You don’t walk into somewhere and you’re not automatically judge by your skin color” (190). White people have a privilege that they may not but should be aware of because it is noticeable and quite obvious. Due to some whites lack of realization that they have a privilege that other races do not and will never have they fail to understand the hardships and disadvantages that minorities experience.

            I personally support affirmative action and I do not claim to be colorblind but I do of my privilege being white. Although I cannot relate to minorities because I do not know what they have been through, I do believe that every single human being deserves the exact same rights without any discrepancies. The world would be a much better place if there were equality for all but unfortunately due to all of those who oppose this idea I am not so sure if equality will ever see its place in our society. Bonilla-Silva’s research concluded that for the most part white people of the working class particularly women could more closely relate to minorities in terms of socioeconomic status. But why should this be the case? Why is society all about race and class? There has to be a line drawn somewhere, there has to be enough people who know that this inequality is not right and are willing to do something about it. I have not done anything on a large scale of greatness dealing with these issues but I do voice my opinion to those I am close to and I try to educate them about the knowledge I have learned in this class. I think that most people just need some educating and understanding of just how serious this racial issue is. I have come across many people who seem to think that race is no longer of importance today and that it is a “thing of the past” and I think that those people must be living in a separate universe because that could not be any further from the truth.

http://newsreel.org/guides/race/whiteadv.htm

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/readroom/articles/affirm.htm