COLUMN: Race Complicates American Society

By The Fordham Ram on February 5, 2014 • ( 0 )

By SARAH ALLISON
COLUNIST sarah

Race is a topic that people don’t like to talk about. Along with body odor, abortion, armpit hair, the death penalty and stampedes, it is on the list of subjects that send people running for the hills both figuratively and literally. In my everyday experience at Fordham, when anyone brings up race, people get very uncomfortable very quickly. Cue awkward silences, seat shifts, throat clears and phone checks. One antidote to this discomfort that I have encountered is the “I don’t see race” statement. Often this remark is said in jest, although occasionally someone says it seriously.

I firmly believe that people who make this comment mean well. “I don’t see race” aims to articulate that race doesn’t matter. No one wants to seem prejudiced, closed-minded or racist (Heaven forbid!) If race doesn’t matter to you, you can’t be any of those things, right? Most of the people who make this comment are relatively open-minded.

Generally speaking, white people experience race completely differently than minorities do. Even if race does not matter to you personally and it does not affect your life in ways that you are always conscious of, it does not mean that it does not matter or that you should dismiss it. So, besides “I don’t see race” being an impossible claim for anyone who isn’t blind, it is a very problematic expression derived from an even more problematic perspective.

If you aren’t white, I would guess that you are rarely unaware of your race. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) American society constantly tells minorities about their non-white identity and aggressively reminds them of it in the unlikely event that they ever forget. If you are white, I would wager that you are unaware of your race more often than not. I sure am. I am also urging you to wake yourself from this unconsciousness. Being able to ignore our own race does not mean that we should or that we should ignore anyone else’s.

In American history and contemporary American society, race has serious, heavy, destructive and, at times, life-threatening baggage. Historically, race has determined economic, political and social status. Today, public policy is largely responsible for disparities in wealth, academic and professional achievement, and general quality of life. Race, the categorization of people based on their appearance, has wreaked havoc throughout American history. The social, economic and political consequences of race have had and continue to have devastating, oppressive, ostracizing and horrific effects on the lives of minorities in overt and subtle ways. People claim that they don’t see race or even joke about it, but this ranges from insensitive to incredibly offensive. Race matters, in every sense of the word. If you “don’t see race”, get your eyes checked.