In post-civil rights era America, most white commentators on issues of race emphasize the necessity for all of us to become "color blind." That is, we should be "blind" to the real or imputed differences that divide people by skin color or phenotype, by our physical appearances, or our genetic backgrounds. We should learn to become "comfortable" with the differences which are reflected in the color spectrum of humanity. And to reinforce this perspective of white tolerance, we are often quoted the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that people should be judged "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
The "color blind" thesis almost always is accompanied by an appeal to "forgive and forget." The logic of the argument is as follows: "Black Americans were terribly oppressed during slavery and Jim Crow segregation. But there's been much social progress in recent years, thanks to the constructive cooperation between the races. We need to move beyond ancient grievances and racial bitterness towards taking personal responsibility for our own lives. After all, we are all responsible for ending racism."
With certain variations, this is the basic argument that is repeated over and over again in the white media, by white political leaders and institutions about the dynamics of race. The argument is that African Americans must stop being so "sensitive" and "defensive" about the problems of their people and communities. "Responsible" black adults supposedly should understand why a white middle-class couple walking to their parked automobile at midnight becomes fearful when they are approached by several African-American teenagers. All of us bear part of the blame for prejudice.
In popular films and culture, the message is the same. At the beginning of "Die Hard with a Vengeance," a white man stands in the center of Harlem, on Amsterdam Avenue, wearing a huge poster sign reading: "I hate Niggers." A cluster of justifiably outraged young black men surrounds the undercover white cop. Yet the film portrays the African-American males as emotional, dangerous, unstable, threatening. In the award-winning film, "Pulp Fiction," a white criminal "accidentally" blows off the head of a young black man when his gun discharges. Covered with blood and gore, the white man and his black partner take refuge in the suburban home of another white man. The second white man is outraged that this "dead nigger" is dragged into his home. Yet to display that he's not really a racist, the film then shows that this bigot is married to an African-American woman. The fact that he has a sexual relationship with a black woman is supposed to illustrate that his tirade of racist epithets has nothing to do with hatred or personal prejudice.
The white corporate-controlled media loves to present stories about "black bigotry." When the Oakland, California board of education suggested that African-American young people may learn best in an environment which validates the language they speak in daily life, blacks were attacked for "rejecting" standard English. When African-American students demand Black Studies courses, or advocate residential housing on campuses which emphasizes black heritage and culture, they are charged with "self-segregation." Affirmative action programs are often described in the press as being based on "racial preference" - despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of those who are the chief beneficiaries of affirmative action are white women.
We will never uproot racism by pretending that "everyone" shares a common responsibility for discrimination and inequality. Black people were not "equal partners" in the construction of slavery, segregation and ghettoization. we weren't personally or collectively consulted when the criminal justice system imprisoned one-third of our young men, or when we suffer with twice the unemployment rates of whites. To be "color blind" is to be blind to the history of oppression. To forget the past is to permit those in power to evade their responsibility for black inequality in the present.
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