When watching the interview on CBS with Condoleezza Rice, I started thinking about what it might mean to be “race blind,” and the idea of race as a whole and how it fits in to societies, not just here in the United States. When Rice states that America will never be “race blind,” she’s absolutely right – but being “race blind” isn’t just about the differences between whites and blacks. There is a fine line between compensating for the prejudices that exist or the discrimination that has already occurred and in fact OVER-compensating, but how far does the guilt (for slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, discrimination, etc) play into the dynamics of society today? For example, my parents might not feel personally guilty for the mistreatment or discrimination of African Americans during the time they were growing up, but on a number of occasions they have expressed regret and shame over how their parents reacted to the civil rights movement. (My mom grew up in a suburban Nashville community and my dad grew up partially in rural Arkansas and partially in an area outside of Nashville. Both sets of grandparents were especially racist toward African American individuals and families in both their urban and rural communities, respectively).
Another question I found myself asking – do we really want to be “race blind”? Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want a company to (just as an example) choose one man over another to fill an employee position simply because one of them is black or Hispanic or Asian and the one they choose is white. I don’t want to be given advantages or priority over someone else simply because I’m white and they might not be. Basically, race shouldn’t be a cause for prejudice or discrimination, and I think this is what Rice was talking about when she used the term “race blind.” But I also don’t think we need to be blind to race as a whole – race is something that sets us apart from one another, but it also gives us cause and reason to celebrate our differences culturally, historically, etc. Our society should focus on seeing differences other than race (cultural, social, historical, and the like), but also recognize that race plays into all of those categories (and all the ones I couldn’t think of off the top of my head) and that we should celebrate them as well.
Just in case, here is the link that Professor McKinney sent via email, with the video and the news article included: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57330615/condi-rice-u.s-will-never-be-race-blind/
I posted about affirmative action earlier. This idea that "we didn't have anything to do with Jim Crow or slavery so let's hit the restart button and ignore race" bothers me immensely. It is too late for that. There is such a statistical inequality that race, ethnicity, and gender are the most important things to consider right now. If we stop considering them, then non-white people will just continue to be marginalized. Of course, you are correct that there are some companies that would go directly opposite to this and hire the white candidate automatically. This is something that I do not know how to deal with, but in terms of our holistically unequal society, I believe that recognizing the inherent disadvantages of many non-white people/white women and letting them in to certain schools even though they are "less qualified" (which, in my opinion is a completely meaningless term considering many inner city schools don't offer 15 AP courses a semester and what not) is the only justice I can understand.
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