Christiana Mbakwe, writing at xoJane, says that the idea of being “colorblind” is fundamentally problematic and does more harm than good.
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In an interview with BET, Kim Kardashian said, “I have a lot of friends that are all different nationalities, and their children are bi-racial. So they have kind of talked to me a little bit about it, what to expect and what not to expect. I think that the most important thing is how I would want to raise my children, is just to not see color. That’s important to me.”
I’m sure the sentiment comes from a loving place. At its core, it’s apparent Kim doesn’t want her child to judge people based on their ethnicity and doesn’t want them to be bound to all the baggage that comes with misunderstanding the place of ethnicity in one’s identity. This is noble.
However, the idea of not seeing color is fundamentally problematic and does more harm than good.
In my opinion, the concept of raising your child not to see color is ludicrous. I believe such an idea is a way of us collectively absolving ourselves of the responsibility to have the uncomfortable discussions about race with our children and each other. It also blocks the hope of real dialogue starting.
Read Christiana Mbakwe’s entire piece at xoJane.
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