Chapter 10: Race and Ethnicity

What's the difference between Race and Ethnicity? An ethnic group is a social category of people who share a common culture, language, nationality, religion, and common norms, practices, customs, and history. While race is a group treated as distinct in society based on certain characteristics, some of which are biological, that have been assigned social importance.

For this chapter I'm going to focus on the term color-blind racism. Something I honestly said I was, but now after understanding the term and reading articles about it I now see as a problem. In our book it states "color-blind racism-so named because the individual affected by this type of racism prefers to ignore legitimate racial-ethnic, cultural, and other differences and insists that the race problems in America will go away if only race is ignored all together." Did you ever consider yourself colorblind?

Behind the Color Blind
By Nordette Adams

You say you see no color.
I say you're full of it!
I hope when you look at me
you see black a little bit,
for when you say you see me
how can that really be
when part of who I am
is my ethnicity?

I like my hair, my skin tone,
I like my heritage;
It influences my art,
enriches how I live.
I like your hair and color
and even your eyes too,
one of my favorite hues is
that lovely shade of blue.

But I wouldn't want to be you,
I like myself just fine,
and don't want you to be me:
We'll both get there in time.
I know you like Scott Joplin,
and I love a Bernstein score,
I love good gumbo and pot pies,
one flavor'd be a bore.

When we escape these bodies,
and meet at heaven's gate,
then we can say "no color":
We'll have nothing to debate.
We'll be at peace in truth,
and understand all things,
but until then let's be real ...
Enjoy what difference brings!
And until that day in glory
when we are truly one,
let's love ourselves in color,
not pretend that we see none.

Consider what it means
to love without condition,
it means to see all sides of me,
yet love is your decision.
To be high but lay down low,
and love beyond yourself
is the best way to love others,
and have spiritual wealth.
But to claim you see no color,
and smile like all is fine
is to say you don't see wholely
and if so, we see you're blind. 

 Here is a link to a clip about redefining race and ethnicity. I like the end where the young girl says she choose between calling herself American or Chinese because her race is Chinese, but her ethnicity is American.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA7La5JgOUk 


Personal opinion piece about how being color blind is not a solution.


http://uppitybrownwoman.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/being-colour-blind-is-not-a-solution/


Two sites/articles about color blind racism-


http://news.illinois.edu/news/10/0421online.html


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/361733/have_we_become_too_color_blind_a_look_pg2.html?cat=72