In his “I have a Dream Speech,” a statement which stands out in everybody’s mind is “To be judged not by the color our of skin but for the content of our character” (King, 1963), he implements the idea of racial equality, but realizes racial identity will cease to exist. Another problem of the “Color Blind Society” is forgetting that one of the many ways people identify themselves is by race. To be blind to this fact is to ignore an obvious racial or ethnic identity. Nonetheless to ignore this facet of a color-blinding a society is to abandoned one’s heritage and roots, despite what ethnic group minority or majority one belongs to.
This suggestion of a color-blind society is far fetched and nearly accepts the idea of not acknowledging racism to exist among minorities. Dr. King’s thoughts of racial equality might have been taken out of context. Even though he mentions for his fellow brothers and sisters to be judged on their character and not color, he is not implying he wanted his Black brothers and sisters to forget and ignore who they are. He recognized the significance of the being disadvantaged as a Black American.
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he makes reference to the “Negro’s” problem in communities and the segregation in the city of Birmingham. He expresses his concerns of how their homes and churches are the target of more racially motivated crimes in Birmingham than any other city in the U. S. His movement was not for a color-blind society, but wanted to propose the advancement of Blacks on the basis of who they are internally and not on the surface. The reality of skin color is knowing that color does exists, he sought out to implement the use of judging beyond one’s outward appearance alone.
The Essay on Color Blindness One Blind Generally
Color Blindness is the inability to distinguish or recognize colors. Color blindness occurs mostly in men, and is caused by a defect in the retina (nerve tissue which changes light images to nerve impulses, which the brain sees as pictures). Total color blindness, when all colors are seen as variations of gray, is known as monochromatism. Monochromatism is inherited and extremely rare; it affects ...
He proposed not to advocate violence and rightfully expressed his views stating “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King, 1963).
This powerful statement shows his recognition for oppression existing and demanded for its justice. With his views on an equal society and request for fairness with Blacks, these concepts have still followed suit long after his untimely death, however the racial problem continues to thrive in America’s forefront (King, 1963).
With every other television or newspaper headline starting out identifying people especially criminals by their race first, there is no way to diminish the profile of an individual’s color. Whether they are Black, White, Asian, or Hispanic the first few words described of a person in is their race or cultural background. This is just one of the ways the minorities, particularly Blacks have been attributed as to being recognized for color first; more so their color, plus what they did or did not achieve.
Furthermore, many firsts have been congratulated as well as widely accepted on the account for positive movements within their culture. For example a Black woman being the first to serve in the White House cabinet, an Asian being the first to receive a doctorate, or the first Hispanic owned million dollar business. To free our society of these recognitions is to deny these individuals admiration for opening the doors of others to achieve the same aspirations in life. The root of existing racism resides within the practices of stereotypes.
Stereotypes have been formed over many years by using a fact or the truth and distorting its idea’s in a demeaning way to generalize others. As long as stereotypes exists then racism will continue, and as long as racism continues there can never be a color-blind society. Stereotyped views remain by the use of the oppressors as a way of not having to educate or acknowledge how the effects of racism have altered the state of minorities socially, economically, and psychologically.
The Essay on Color Blind Racism
... socially constructed, blacks and other minorities suffer from inferior jobs, education, and housing. Bonilla-Silva discusses four central frames of color blind racism: 1) ... in a society where racial inequality exists. Instead, it’s the institutions itself that cause discrimination. Albeit, it’s nothing comparable to racism in the ...
For some, it is easy to hold on to stereotypes rather than invite the blame of the oppressor. For this reason, there is a misunderstanding of blame and oppression. While forceful segregation has not remained distinct, there continues to be a problem with institutional racism in the schools, communities, workforce, and jail systems. Schools are affected by the communities which separate districts a majority of the time by race. When urban communities are left behind from prosperous industries, the people are often left jobless and in poverty.
Job markets often look for an ideal candidate. Many wish to hire workers who would appeal to the other workers including the clientele and consuming industry. Unfortunately it might be seen as uninviting to look a certain way, talk different, or dress within a different class. Employers may hold a higher standard of physical appearance and socio-economical background when choosing employees. There is no mistake that the prisons are heavily populated with more minorities as with non-minorities.
There is an unjust system of profiling and unfairness standing in the government scope. A color-blind society will not be able to exist with unfair treatment of minorities. Howard Witt reported in the Chicago Tribune of a 14 year old Black girl who was sentenced for up to 7 years for shoving a hall monitor in Paris, Texas. Brenda Cherry who is an activists states the small town of 26,000 is segregated and she informs how she can still see the Paris Fairgrounds, which was the site of various lynches in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.
She makes a comparison to the July 2006 criminal conviction of a 19 year White man who was held responsible in a homicide which killed a 54 year old Black woman along with her 3 year old grandson with his truck (Witt, 2007).
There are too many factors in creating a color-blind society. There are existing problems within every sector of racism. Adopting the idea of a color-blind society is procreating just what is says, and that is covering the notion that racism exists and skin color is not going to be recognized. Blinding the world to what is essentially reality; suggests the unimportance of accepting an equal racial society.
The Essay on Racism Society Color Hate
Race in America: Is it really such a problem now as it was so many years ago? I think my generation of young adults is reaping the 1 st benefits of a "racist free" society, and I put racist free society in quotations because our society may never truly be without some form of racism because I believe that hate for another race or culture is seeded in our youth at a very early age, and that our ...
A number of efforts have been enforced by the civil rights movement, activists, and community leaders to strive for equality and continued freedom, and to deny them of this endeavor is to not only regress but would promote that minority’s concerns have no relevance to their society. Minorities have been taught to ignore, be inferior and stand and wait like Dr. King said, but no one will grant them their freedom, it has to be demanded. A color-blind society perpetuates the idea of blinding racism. This is a myth which may never be possible considering the long history of oppression that has affected the minorities in the United States.
