Color Blindness: Part of the Problem or Part the Solution?

A review of controversy over the idea that race itself causes racism and that we would be better off returning to the ideal of a color blind approach to each other.

1. NAUA Academy Color Blindness: Part of the Problem or Part the Solution? Speaker: Terry Anderson Host: Joyce Francis May 14, 2024

2. Outline Coleman Hughes and the infamous Color Blind Ted Talk Hughes’ - The End of Race Politics (2024) Sheena Mason’s - Theory of racelessness Are there any Rationale Reasons for Race-based policies?

3. Cultural Wars – Need we become combatants?

4. My Introduction to Color Blindness as Racist Thinking

5. What is Race?  Race is an extremely young concept (in light of our roughly 300,000 year history as  Homo sapiens ) Nebulous concept  that we humans have created and used for the most pernicious of purposes. as a justifier for chattel slavery, to bolster a false sense of superiority amongst some groups and inferiority between others, to economically marginalise social classes, or a highly questionable method of acquiring information about people. Ehigie E. (2024)– Blinded by Colour: The Irish case for transcending. Journal of Free Black Thought

6. Coleman Hughes 28 year old American writer and podcast host   Newark Academy  and was selected as a  United States Presidential Scholar graduated from  Columbia University   Hughes has written for Quillette , [ The Spectator , The New York Times ,  The Wall Street Journal ,  National Review & Heterodox Academy   Jazz Trombonist 16,000 followers on Facebook, YouTube podcasts 176,000 followers

7. Hughes’ Infamous Ted Talk Podcast April 2023, Vancouver Ted Talk Titled “A Case for Color Blindness” Well rehearsed with Ted staff Well received by live audience The Backlash!

8. 13 minutes - https:// www.ted.com /talks/ coleman_hughes_a_case_for_color_blindness?language = en

9. Hughes “ Color blindness is the antidote to the poison of racism” Bouie “ major vector under which inequality happens, and it seems foolhardy to ignore it or conflate it.” Both Hughes and Bouie argue It is really all about Class 

10. See Hughes’ FreePress 2023 article: Why Is TED Scared of Color Blindness?

11. The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America  – 2024 Coleman Hughes

12. Neo-Racist “ I thrive on Race!” Anti-Racist “ Dismantle Racism NOW!” “ the new race obsession that brands itself as ‘anti-racist’ is in fact the opposite - a social and political hellscape”. 

13. The Myths of the NeoRacist Narrative (From Hughes 2024) The Disparity Fallacy Demographic Differences Power of Culture The Myth of Undoing the Past The Myth of No Progress The myth of Inherited Trauma Racial Ad Hominem  ”The Myth of Superior Knowledge and Lived Experience The Myth of Black Weakness

14. See Dick Burkhart’s Book Review of Hughes’ (2024) On Dick’s Subset Channel at https://earth0democracy.substack.com/p/a-very-cogent-common-sense-rejection

15. What is the Black Perspective? Troubling consequences will flow, however, from acceding to demands to view racial status as an intellectual credential. First, legitimating the notion of racial credentials imperils the ideal of a cosmopolitan intellectual community in which there exist no stereo-typing expectations imposed upon an individual's work because of his or her race. One hears that there is a need to consult the racial identity of candidates for citation or for faculty positions in order to attain a given racial perspective - for example, "a black perspective" or, as it is frequently stated, "the black perspective." But what makes a perspective or opinion or style "black”?

16. “If you want to fight racism, remove race from public policy," "And if you want to fight injustice, do so based on class.” Coleman Hughes Excellent Movie – Origin (2023) Wilerson’s life as she investigates class across the globe

17. “Race Causes Racism” Sheena Mason

18. THEORY OF RACELESSNESS: A CASE FOR ANTIRACE(ISM) by Sheena Michele Mason “the theory presents a pathway toward dismantling entrenched structures of racism and fostering a society that celebrates the richness of individual and collective identities unrestricted by racism.” S.Mason PhD SUNY https:// www.theoryofracelessness.org  

19. In her teaching, scholarship, and service, Dr. Mason consistently and unwaveringly promotes anti-racism, though her “anti-racism” necessarily differs from traditional thought and practices. Dr. Sheena Mason  launch Raceless Antiracism, an e-learning community for the …. transcend beyond the conventional understandings of racism, drawing evidence from literary studies, human rights history, philosophy, journalism, and other social sciences. 

20. 2:15 Minute video https:// youtu.be /2T0dMEXt6BY?si=kjM4zUvrcm48Lw6q

21. Core tenets of The Theory of Racelessness Race/ism (i.e., racism) is a socially constructed system of economic and social oppression that requires the belief in “race” and the practice of racialization to reinforce various power imbalances. “Race” is an imaginary part of the socially constructed reality of racism (i.e., race/ism). Racialization is the process of applying an inescapable economic and social class hierarchy—“race/ism”—to humans that creates or reinforces power imbalances.

22. 4. The belief in “race” and practice of racialization affect people differently. These differences serve to uphold the machinery of racism, acting as obstacles to unification, healing, and reconciliation. 5. Translation of what one means by “race,” including the presumed absence of “race” in any context, can lead to understanding and bridge-making. The racelessness translator helps people interpret “race” into something being said about the causes/effects of racism, culture, ethnicity, social class, economic class, or some combination. 6. Race/ism does not exist everywhere in the same way and can be ended.

23. “Sheena M. Mason advances the bold claim that racism is a crazy-making regime that inspires jaundiced categorizations of American life in a foolish attempt to order things by 'race.’”  Jacoby Adeshei Carter, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Howard University)

24. New book to be released Oct. 2024

25. Color Blind Systemic Racism

26. HOW TO BE LESS STUPID ABOUT RACE On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide Author: Crystal M. Fleming Beacon Press “ Americans are kinda - sorta -maybe waking up to the reality that our racial politics are (still) garbage. But in the midst of this reckoning, widespread denial and misunderstandings about race persist, even as white supremacy and racial injustice are more visible than ever before ” Amazon

27. “If you don’t see black, you don’t see me!”

28. 1.) Descendants of American slaves have suffered a continual disadvantage since slavery was abolished,….. The historical residuum of this discrimination is still with us. 2.) This problem needs to be made right by some form of reparations.  A color-blind society alone cannot make things right; we must have some form of affirmative action. 3.) Only the descendants of slaves to get these advantages. It is slavery, and slavery alone, that must be considered in affirmative action, not other historic forms of racial discriminations 4.) Increasing "diversity" is of little consequence. 5.) Despite the "colorblindness" touted in King's famous speech, King also wrote, “ A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him.”  Summary by Jerry Coyne

29. Adia Harvey Wingfield Atlantic 2015 “By claiming that they do not see race, they also can avert their eyes from the ways in which well-meaning people engage in practices that reproduce neighborhood and school segregation, rely on “soft skills” in ways that disadvantage racial minorities in the job market, and hoard opportunities in ways that reserve access to better jobs for white peers.

30. In Canada FIrst Nations peoples were treated very badly by colonial governments. Canada Settles (2024)  $2 Billion Suit Over 'Cultural Genocide' at Residential Schools. And deficits in family services. The class action, brought by 325 First Nations. Every former student of a residential School received $10,000 for the first year of schooling, and $3,000 for each subsequent year. No payments for descendants of residential schools.

31. Racism in Politics of the Left. “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, you ain’t Black.” President J. Biden

32. Conclusion We need to rethink the focus on race as a meaningful and useful way to develop public policy and private interactions. Huge social inequalities are highly correlated with race. We need to constantly affirm, support and realize “The inherent worth and dignity of EVERY person”

33. Slides Available at https:// www.slideshare.net /slideshow/color-blindness-part-of-the-problem-or-part-the-solution/268414135

34. Questions for our Discussion Is Color Blindness only an aspirational goal and not to be used for practical decision making? Does color-blindness as a driver of policy and programs, work better than DEI initiatives or other race-conscious approaches ?

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