On a weekly basis I hear someone who believes they are giving me a compliment by saying “I don’t see color” or “I’m color blind”.  And if I have energy I question them on what that really means because it is pure human nature to see difference.  Our brains have registered difference since the beginning of time.  Survival requires it.

 

Why does it matter?  It matters a lot.

 

Our bodies react to difference physiologically and that is normal.  So, why do have to pretend we do not see difference?  Then that means you do not see me?  What if we were to say “I’m gender blind” I do not see gender?  Okay, but every one of us sees gender as defined by our society or culture, it is normal.  It is what we do with that information that matters.  If you see my color, does that change the way you think about me as person?  Because being a Black woman is who I am and if you do not see that – you make me invisible…

 

Michelle Norris, a native Minnesotan, does an amazing job explaining how painful it is for people of color to hear…”I am colorblind.” Please watch her video for the inside look at ReThinking Race: CLICK HERE.

 

I hope you can see me and see others and create relationships anyway.  Because inclusion is not about being color blind and it is about being color conscious and still asking me to dance…or work on your files or go to a client meeting or…invite me to your home.