Language is a reflection of our societal norms, cultural beliefs, values, and even identities. As a result, language is ever evolving. About 5,000+ new words are added each year to our lexicon, while dictionaries officially add between 800-1,000 of those words. "Colorblind" is one such term that saw its first prominent use within the context of race in the 1896 dissenting opinion of Plessy v. Ferguson. In his opinion, Justice Harlan stated that the Constitution should be "colorblind" and not differentiate between people based on race.
Although the term "colorblind" is frequently misapplied to signify racial equality, those of us in racial justice have recognized how this well-meaning ideology negatively impacts People of Color. In our workshops, we often talk about the concept of colorblind ideology to illustrate how it harms, rather than helps, racial dynamics and conversations about race. Dr. Caprice Hollins talks about this in her 2020 Tedx talk below.
Colorblindness describes the belief that someone "doesn't see color," Dr. Hollins explains, which comes from a good place but invalidates and ignores the existence and experiences of racism. While understanding colorblind ideology has become a useful tool for advancing DEIBelonging, our team has recently been having conversations about the term's use within the context of disability. According to Stanford University professor Subini Annamma, the idea of color blindness is insulting because,
"it associates blindness with ignorance. It's an inadequate descriptor and also implies passivity... When you choose to be 'color blind' you've made an active choice. There's a paradox there, if you say you're not going to see color, you've already acknowledged it."
Our organization is still figuring out how to communicate colorblind ideology—whether we completely replace it with terms like "race avoidant" or "race evasive," or we continue to use it as a well known concept, while also acknowledging its problematic association with disability and passivity. We don't have all the answers because the racial justice journey, like our language, is ever evolving and adaptive as we are continuing to learn and grow.
We invite you to explore the intersections of racism and ableism, which Isabella Kres-Nash, an advocate for racial justice and disability rights, explains is not separate.
“Racism and ableism are often thought of as parallel systems of oppression that work separately to perpetuate social hierarchy. Not only does this way of looking at the world ignore the experiences of people of color with disabilities, but it also fails to examine how race is pathologized in order to create racism.”
Visit the Disability & Philanthropy Forum's Resource Library to read more about the intersection of racism and ableism.