I have an issue I’d like to
discuss with regard to a situation which once happened and now is happening to
me again. It has to do with a cultural trend which has finally gained a name
more recently but has been around much longer. It is an issue with those who
see themselves as racially blind.
I see the origins of this trend, at
least in my life time, started after 9-11, (I know, I'm sick of referencing
9-11 for every social trend of my generation too, but here we are), and it is
centered around people’s ability to speak openly against specific races and not
have fear of backlash. Early on it was just against races seen as connected to
evil groups who had hurt us whether they were part of it or not. However social
pressure soon gave rise a new form of patriotism that included notions against
anyone who was not what people saw as American. In my experience, being of
Mexican descent, it was weird to have people who knew of my background carry a
conversation with me and feel it was OK to speak so openly against Mexicans
right to my face as long as the always made sure to put "illegal"
before it every time,(which they frequently forgot to). Even if the issues they
spoke of did not actually relate specifically to illegals or to illegals at all
they felt confident denouncing Mexicans because they were a patriot and had
their countries interests at heart.
In recent years this has
gained a name and a new face, people who feel it is OK to speak against
specific races and it somehow doesn't make them racists simply because if
accused of being racist they can dismiss the allegation by declaring that they
voted for Obama. The notion that we have move into a post racial society where everyone
should become blind to issues of color is an idea that has gained a following. However
I have seen it used more often by people who have prejudice as a free pass to
let that prejudice out. I say this out of experience and from a stand point of
multiple levels of frustration with a situation. In a previous place I worked
my crew got a new manager, and in one of the first conversations with the whole
crew we had together the issue of race came up and he openly, adamantly
declared that he believed it was right for police to hassle blacks and Mexicans
more because they were the ones always doing something wrong. Him being my boss
I decided to take less direct action against him and tried to prove him wrong
and change his mind. In the process of this he managed to get fired the only other
person of Mexican descent on the crew other than me. He did not just have a
belief that there were social trends which were true and should be handled, he
was a nearly openly racist but he hid it behind this colorblind ideology.
Luckily I stayed above his wrath long enough for him to be found out as a
scumbag and pressured out of the job. Now I face a situation with a new boss I
have who sees himself as so non-racist that he jokes about race freely and
doesn’t see it as a problem, even if the way he does it really is kind of
racist. My issue is once again trying to decide on whether or not to act on
this issue and how. I made a mistake previously about whether someone
just had some misled beliefs or if they were a racist and someone paid for it
when I could have prevented it.
The colorblind trend is a weird
issue to deal with as so many members of this group think they are on the right
side of the issue, but some like Tim wise would say that acting like race
is no longer an issue creates more issues.
