Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Color Blind or Color Brave?


"If we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity in America I think we have to have real conversations about this issue.  We cannot afford to be color blind, we have to be color brave."

"We have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race with honesty and understanding and courage.  Not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do."



In this TedTalk, "Color Blind or Color Brave?," Mellody Hobson discusses race, which she admits to being a little nervous about.  She talks about a subject that most people are afraid of talking about.  One of her arguments was about the importance of talking about something that makes your uncomfortable because if nobody talks about it then nobody will understand.  By having the conversation, people then become aware and when people are aware, that is when people take action.

I am currently taking a class, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and the first assignment we had was to read an article about The Coddling of the American Mind.  This was the first thing that came to mind while watching this video.  It is about how people get offended way too easily while talking about important issues that need to be talked about.




Nayytah Waheed sent this tweet almost a year ago about invisibility.  I have discussed in some classes how colorblind isn't really possible because our differences are what make us unique.  I never really thought of it on the level of making someone feel invisible.  The word itself, "colorblind," doesn't feel like such a positive thing because people are just that, blind.  They don't see you.  Mellody's "color brave" turns it into something much more positive! Though I can not personally relate to Mellody's story of invisibility, there have been times felt left out or like nobody knew I existed when it came to being new at a school or in class.





I think this is why Youth In Action is such a successful program. YIA is a safe place in which adults and youth of many beliefs and backgrounds can come together to make change.  As Mellody says, it is important to surround yourself with people who are nothing like yourself so that the ways in which you think will be challenged and you can grow as a person.

5 comments:

  1. I like how you put a documentary here. I also have not had any personal experiences with race, but I have felt left out in a new class and with my family.

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  2. Your blog is very good. You wrote about so many of your insights and connected very well into this blog. I also like just the overall layout of this blog with the quotes on the side, the placement of the documentary. Really nice blog!

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  3. Love your connection to other classes. THanks for this.

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  4. Like Lesley said I like how you were able to make connects and not only tie this weeks reading to your own experiences but to our class readings. I love when people can be my memory and bring everything together. Great post.

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  5. As we inch closer to graduation and are exposed to more theories, I too am finding that making connections between different classes happens very easily. You made a great point about not being able to talk about things due to people getting offended. Some people rather not discuss something because it makes them uncomfortable, but ignoring the situation doesn't solve anything, nor does it solve the problem.

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