the other day in class, we had a discussion about when we first heard of autism and/or neurodivergence. a lot of the answers included learning in school or from personal experiences. like most people, my elementary school had a special education class. because children are followers and since they don’t know any better, a lot of my peers would constantly taunt the students in the special education class. they’d find an excuse to walk past their classroom and make faces or obscene jokes. as a child, i did not understand why those students were made fun of or why they were in a separate class. even now i still don’t understand why.
we’ve all had to conform to a capitalist society where our value is placed upon how much work we can do. in the past few years, ideas of working and “hustling” have become romanticized, and its seen as a way of working hard while we can in order to see the fruits of our labor later on. my question is, when is later on?
this is a typical response to racism, made with good intentions and in good faith. even in alcoff’s “Towards a Phenomenology of Racial Embodiment”, it is highlighted that the liberalism concepts of universalism purport that differentiating between race through color impedes equality, essentially saying that acknowledging color is unseemly. despite that good, this statement can be seen as ignoring the privileges certain people have over others and can invalidate the struggles some experience because of race. i’ve found myself trying to explain this to people in the past, and it is (not surprisingly) very difficult. when having discussions about race with someone who is not the same race as you, the conversation can become very defensive, very quickly. as a black person, i try to have these open discussions with friends and peers so we can all learn from each other. for some reason though, i never feel like i get much out of the conversation. since we aren’t used to having these tricky conversations, they continuously feel like uphill battles. talking about race with other black people is different, and easier: because our experience with race is similar.
it is extremely important in this day and age to educate ourselves on the experiences of everyone. but it just can’t be denied that it is typically easier, and maybe more comfortable, to surround yourself with people who have similar experiences to you. there is a lesser chance of a cultural barrier, and it can be easier to form connections because of this. at my high school during a school-wide assembly, my principal said that while he walked through the cafeteria, he noticed that most tables were primarily filled with people of the same race. he was perfectly correct: whether it happened intentionally or unintentionally the people of my school typically were friends with others that looked like them. originally when he stated this i thought “what’s the problem with that?” and in my opinion its not a problem: it makes sense that we as humans choose to be around people like us. but we can’t truly learn about the experiences of others if we don’t allow ourselves to.
the main reason why the “i don’t see color” saying confuses me is because i see color. a lot. i notice it in every new environment i’m in, especially in the workplace or at school. as a black person in the STEM field, it is very obvious to me when i am sometimes the only black person in the room. or as a black person working in an IT department, it is very apparent to me that i am one of the only persons of color in the office. or even just moving about my daily life, acknowledging the fact that because i am black, i will be perceived in certain stereotypical ways in public. my main point is, that having the privilege to “not see color” means you are desensitized to the experiences that people of color experience every day. we all, as humans, need to develop a better understanding of our shared and individual experiences. we also need to learn empathy for each other, and compassion. there is still a very long way to go for racial equality, but acknowledging one another, and our color, is the first step.
Unruly Bodies 