To the Editor:
Who said anything about wanting a color-blind Dartmouth?
First, let me be up front. I am black. Uncomfortable yet? Unlike Roger Lott claims ("Truly Color Blind," March 7), there is nothing "welcoming" about a color-blind environment. Color-blindness ignores continuing and widespread social phenomena rooted in racism (white flight, anybody?). It promotes assimilation instead of self-expression and, in so doing, lets slide blatantly demeaning acts because they are normative (Native American mascot, anybody?) It suggests that inequity is only tied to us claiming that race matters. As if to say that everything would be dandy if those pesky minorities would stop making a fuss.
Color-blindness tells me that it is not okay to be of color, that any success I experience happens in spite of my racial identity and that I should not celebrate a history of strength and creativity. It's patronizing nonsense. Instead of listening to myriad experiences of race, those who choose color-blindness implicitly tell others how to or rather not to define themselves. The message: assimilate.
No one is arguing that we should not promote interracial interactions. No one wants preferential treatment. What those who "see" color do desire is equity.
Backgrounds racial or otherwise matter. We do not come to Dartmouth with the same experiences; our diversity demands access to different kinds of support. Students need communities that not only sympathize, but empathize. We need spaces in which we are not constantly educating others. We need advisors who have themselves been affected by the challenges we continue to tackle. Only then will everyone be empowered to succeed.
A request to Lott and those who believe color-blindness is an ideal: instead of citing "For Colored Girls" and "Alliance for Children of Color Playdate" as "exclusive racial events," come to them. Because they aren't exclusive they are open to campus. Because if you come truly willing to listen, you will learn more than you can imagine.
Also, stop explicitly and implicitly equating the visions of Dr. King and President Obama with color-blindness. They argued for understanding across races, not denying the ongoing influence of race. Suggesting otherwise is a shockingly bad misinterpretation or a willful distortion.Anise Vance '11
