Colorblindness & Children

After reading the literature for class and attending class today, there were two concepts that left quite an impression on me.

1. The topic of "colorblindness." The movie that we viewed in class today at the end of it was advocating this topic. And media reports say that my generation is the most "colorblind" of any previous generation. But after completing the readings, these statements were troubling to me. There is no such thing as colorblindness. Social Psychology says that stereotypes and prejudices are not only natural, but beneficial (Confronting Racism text). They help to understand the environment quickly. It's actually an evolutionary survival tactic. Everyone notices race. I know I notice race all the time - especially if I am the minority... or if the majority of people in a situation are white and there is only one, or very few people of color. The problem with stereotypes is that they are often inaccurate.

But, the text offers a solution to change stereotypes and prejudices. It is a more effortful solution, but it seems like it would work. Every time you meet someone, you form a stereotype. But you should try to get to know that individual, ask him or her questions, to get the "real" person, not just what your split-second perception is of that person.

Personally, I would love to do this. And I'm an outgoing person, so I think this is feasible for me. But, like everyone else (at least I assume), I get scared. I stutter my words and get nervous about what to say (this usually isn't a problem for me). I think it can be fair to say that sometimes when I'm exposed to someone new who is different than me, I get shy. I'm not really sure what this means. But, that's where my thoughts are going now.

2. The early recognition of race in children. There were two examples in the reading that really stuck out to me. The first was a class of kindergartners were asked to draw a picture of a Native American / Indian. All of their pictures included feathers and often times, weapons.

This interested me because in my elementary school experience, we studied Native Americans in third grade. We were taught to use the term "Native Americans" rather than "Indians" because it was the "right thing to say" or that "they liked that term better." This was in third grade. Now, flash forward about five years. I was babysitting and one of the kids was in third grade at the same elementary school I attended. I'm not sure how we got on the topic, but I said something about the "Indians" (I usually use the term "Native American," but I wasn't sure that the children I was babysitting for would be familiar with that term). The third grader corrected me and told me that we should call them "Native Americans." I think it's refreshing to know that schools now-a-days are teaching more racial history as well as proper terminology.

Another example in the text that had to do with children and race was in the Kivel text. The story about the little girl who brought in a black barbie doll for show and tell. Her classmates responded with comments describing how ugly the doll was and how it was "not Barbie." This reminded me of a different time when I was babysitting. I was playing Barbie Dolls with the children, and I often chose the Barbie Doll with dark brown hair and tan skin because I thought that she was pretty (and not like all the other Barbies with the yellow hair that all looked the same to me). One time, the little girl asked me, "Why do you always choose the ugly Barbie?" I was really taken aback by this question, because this girl thought that only the light-skinned, blonde barbies were the pretty ones. It's interesting that even slight differences in skin tone and hair color can make all the difference in childrens' eyes.