Our class discussion of racism broadened my perspective more than any other discussion that I've been a part of or any research that I've done thus far. The most pivotal moment was when two students were asked to stand in front of the class. As a class, we were asked what it was about the two students that we noticed first.
They were both male; one was black and one was white. When asked if our initial reaction was to notice that one of the students was black, I responded with "no". I was told that the reason my reaction to that question was such an immediate no was because it would be an unkind thought. At first, I wholeheartedly believed that wasn't all it was. I was insistent that I had noticed they were different, but hadn't identified "black" as the stand out. As I look back on this event, I can see that even when we truly don't think we have automatic response, bias, etc., we do. The more I've reflected on this, I've come to see that denying the fact that we notice things, such as color, is almost dangerous. If we deny ourselves of the truth, we are living in a state of ignorance. This sparked some digging and I found a quote that summed this whole experience up perfectly and as simply as can be. "Racism springs from ignorance." Mario Balotelli
The trouble with ignorance is that it's not intentional and it's not known. In order to avoid ignorance, we must really push ourselves to look past our own point of view. In Communication Theory, we discussed a concept called White Blindness. It is a good label to help explain this kind of unintentional bias I'm talking about. It means that when you are a part of the majority (white, in this case) you don't notice it anymore. That's just the way it is. And for those who are the minority, they are constantly reminded. There are certain privileges that come with being a part of the accepted majority, but because the majority of people are the same, it doesn't feel like a privilege and therefore one becomes blind to it.
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