A new video that has just surfaced points out that racism goes way deeper than just skin color.
Several blind people were asked about racism – if they were racist, what racism means to them – and then shared their thoughts on it. Their answers were honest, open, and enlightening and can teach us about the way we understand racism in our time.
Often, people talk about being “colorblind,” meaning that they don’t see color or the differences between people of different races.
However, in our society, it’s pretty much impossible not to have some pretty deeply ingrained ideas about race.
At the beginning of the video, an interviewer off camera says to a white woman on camera:
“So, umm… You’re blind; you must not be racist, right?”
And the blind woman replies:
“I am racist.”
That may not be what you’d expect to hear when you click on this video. But the woman goes on to explain that she’s racist because she thinks all white people are to some extent. Everybody, nonwhite folks included, have been raised in a society that gives them some very specific perceptions about race. And just because you aren’t outwardly rude to people based on their skin tone doesn’t mean that you don’t have preconceived notions about races or assume certain things about a person of a different race when you first meet them.
She also points out that she, as a white woman, has benefitted from institutions stemming from capitalism, which was initially made a possibility through slavery. This sort of attitude makes it clear that race goes way beyond skin tone. Even though this woman can’t see color, she is still affected by all the cultural associations of skin color.
Another interviewee, a black man, goes on to talk about his experiences of racism.
The fact that he’s blind doesn’t make him any less likely to experience racism directed toward him, and he, therefore, definitely feels the effects of racism in society. Not only can other people see him, but other blind people also have perceptions about blackness and what that means.
However, another blind woman of Indian heritage says that she doesn’t share these same sentiments. She claimed that she isn’t racist because she can’t see color.
But most of the others agree that skin color isn’t the only marker of race.
After all, the way people speak can reveal a lot about their race, ethnicity, or what other languages they speak, all of which inform people’s perceptions of them. One young white man who admits that he has some negative perceptions of black people said that he sometimes makes judgments based on the way people talk or the kind of language they use.
Although most of the blind people interviewed agreed that they are deeply affected by race despite not being able to see skin color, a lot of them mentioned that it could take them a while to find out about someone’s race. Therefore, they could go months or even years without knowing anything about a friend or acquaintance’s race or ethnicity, which likely also affects the way they see race.
While in the ideal world, people would be able to see past race completely, these blind people make it clear that that’s not really a possibility.
Race goes so much deeper than skin color. And to make the world a more open and accepting place, people have to realize how deep their perceptions about race really run. Only then can culture move forward to a place of deeper understanding and compassion for all, no matter what they look like.
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