Dear White People: When You Say You ‘Don’t See Color,’ This Is What We Really Hear

More than two years after the summer 2020 racial reckoning, many organizations have realized the hard way that having productive conversations about race can be both challenging and uncomfortable. Much of the difficulty lie in our fundamentally different perspectives borne out of drastically different life experiences and dreadfully low levels of racial literacy, humility and stamina.

One fundamental friction point that renders many race conversations dead on arrival is whether we should be talking about race or color in the first place. In fact, “I don’t see color” has become a common refrain from many white (and some non-white) professionals who view discussions of race as anachronistic, unnecessary trouble-making encouraged by negative naysayers sewing division. Many in this crowd are quick to shut down any potential race-focused conversation with tired, sanctimonious references to Dr. King’s “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” comment in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. They claim an unearned high ground that abruptly stifles and neutralizes very necessary, long overdue grappling with fundamental issues of racism and inequity.

While many people (of all racial backgrounds) are quite well-intentioned when they assert the familiar “I don’t see color; let’s be race-neutral.” refrain, the simple truth is that for many Black and Brown people, those words are like nails on a chalkboard—flashing red lights that evoke a visceral feeling of angst, disappointment and frustration.

The truth is that when white people say “I don’t see color,” many Black and Brown people hear a very different message. In fact, “I don’t see color” often sounds like code for what they’re really feeling and thinking—sentiments like these:

“Thank goodness I don’t have to think about race.”

Right-handed people probably don’t notice that spiral notebooks/3-ring binders, credit card swipers, school desks, scissors, tape measures and many other everyday items are designed for right-handed people. Why not? Because they simply don’t have to. They get to move through the world without thinking about any of these everyday nuisances for left-handed people because right-handed people are the default. The world is configured to suit them. Similarly, for centuries white people have had the privilege of not needing to think about, focus on or actively “see” race because they haven’t needed to do so in order to achieve their goals. “A Black person will never say ‘I don’t see colour’ because our race and culture are not the centre of the universe,” explains Shereen Daniels, author of The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace. “We do not have that privilege.”

“I’m not comfortable talking about race, and I’m not used to being uncomfortable, so can we please change the subject?”

Unfortunately, the “I don’t see color” comment oftentimes just shuts down conversation. It’s a subtle message to the group that “seeing race” is a bad thing; therefore, there shouldn’t be discussion about it. “I don’t see color is the get-out-of-talking-or-doing-anything-about-racism card that ‘good white people’ carry in their wallet,” insists Theresa M. Robinson, DEI & Anti-Racism Educator, Master Trainer TMR & Associates. “They flash it every time the subject of race or racism comes too close for their continued comfort.” Arguably, the “I don’t see color” assertion is a subtle manipulation requesting an immediate change of topic.

“Please give me credit for not being racist.”

Perhaps the most obvious way to interpret the “I don’t see color” comment is one of self-congratulation. Indeed, they’re making it known that they’re not a “racist” white person. They are in fact a “good” white person and as a “good” white person, they are so non-racist that they don’t even have the ability to notice race. Please…

Beyond sounding a bit narcissistic, the comment feels invalidating. “When I’m on the receiving end of it, it feels like a pronouncement and announcement that the person is erasing the part of me at the source of their dis-ease, of their discomfort,” insists Robinson. “It’s incredibly insulting to be informed that an aspect of my identity will be treated as ‘unseen’ and ‘erasable.’ Folks that traffic in this narrative and others like it are trying to convince the world and themselves that they’re not racist.”

Ultimately, the message that they project is that it’s more important for everyone to know how non-racist they are than it is to acknowledge (must less ameliorate) any race-related problems.

“I plan to do absolutely nothing to combat racism.”

Just as a cancer patient prefers a radiologist who can actually see and detect cancer, equity-committed workplaces require people who can see and detect racial microaggressions and other race-related inequities. Naturally, that requires being able to see race/color and notice when race is impacting outcomes. Indeed, the “I don’t see race” crowd renders themselves completely useless in the fight against racism. “People can’t make an impact on what they don’t ‘see,’” explains Robinson. “People can’t address what they don’t acknowledge. People can’t effect change around what’s already been dismissed. I can guarantee that if a person is holding on to an ‘I don’t see color’ worldview, they are not doing too much of anything to move the needle on racism.”

The “I don’t see race” argument also offers a plausible deniability. “If white people are not paying attention, if they are ‘colourblind,’ they never have to question whether race is a factor in, for example, their hiring,” insists Daniels. “It benefits them not to question why they got a job because it makes it look like they got to where they are in their career on their own.” Indeed, not seeing race allows one to be lazy. After all, how can we be expected to address racism when we can’t even see race?

“I have to be ‘safe’ if I quote MLK, right? I’ll just do that to avoid any real nuanced discussion or analysis.”

It’s common for those with dreadfully low levels of racial literacy to cling to an out of context passage that may seem to bolster their perspective on a race-related issue. The ‘I don’t see color’ crowd often quotes the famous line from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech—”I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” While that was and still is an aspirational goal, it was in fact aspirational—actually, he literally said it was a dream. Dr. King certainly never suggested that his children’s color should be invisible, not seen or not considered.

The “I don’t see color” camp tries to contort this quote into an assertion that it’s never appropriate to see or discuss race (which is obviously antithetical to Dr. King’s work and arguably nonsensical). This CBS News article posed the question, “Would Dr. King have wanted us to completely ignore race in a ‘color-blind’ society?” In the article, Martin Luther King III responds, “I don’t think we can ignore race. What my father is asking is to create the climate where every American can realize his or her dreams.” The article further asserts, “Bernice King doubts her father would seek to ignore differences.”

As with debates around college admission policies or modern affirmative action programs, the ”I don’t see color” crowd often tries to conflate color-conscious actions designed to bring about racial equity with racial discrimination rooted in and motivated by white supremacy. Perhaps the late Justice John Paul Stevens said it best when he clarified, “There is no moral or constitutional equivalence between a policy that is designed to perpetuate a caste system and one that seeks to eradicate racial subordination.”

While the “I don’t see color” crowd typically lauds Dr. King and his “I Have a Dream” speech, they don’t seem to understand that the speech urges each of us to move off the sidelines and get about the business of demanding and creating racial equity. Clearly, Dr. King didn’t believe in pretending that we don’t see color or otherwise kicking the can down the road. He urged direct action now. “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now,” he urged. “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” Those words are as true today as they were in 1963.

Certainly, we can’t afford to stick our heads in the sand by pretending we don’t see color so please, the next time you feel inclined to say that you “don’t see color,” think again.