Module 2 Paper

Before I read all of these articles, the first thing I did was look to see the date in which it

was written. It bothers me, and blows my mind, that a lot of these articles are dated from at

least 5 or 6 years ago. It bothers me that we are still having these conversations about race

because it is telling me that nothing is changing. People are still screaming so loud and fighting

so hard to simply be heard, to be recognized. Why has America still not listened? What more

must be done? How much louder and stronger do people have to be?

There was a time where I used to think the phrase “I don’t see color” was good. I

thought that meant that someone was not racist; that they saw everyone as equal, that

everyone looked the same to them. It is only more recently where I see the trouble in that logic.

By not seeing color, you are ignoring color. In the CNN article ‘Racism without Racists,’ which

was written in 2014, John Blake writes about ‘I don’t see color, “it's a phrase some white people

invoke when a conversation turns to race.” This can absolutely be said now, as I see white

people type out this very phrase in comment sections on news articles. It is the equivalent to

“All Lives Matter.” White people want to believe that color does not matter; they want to

believe that everyone is colorblind. Sadly, we are not. We see color whether we want to admit

it or not. “Although the civil rights movement had a significant effect on changing racial

interactions in this society, racism continues to plague the United States, President Clinton’s

Race Advisory Board concluded that (a) racism is one of the most divisive forces in our society,

(b) racial legacies of the past continue to haunt current policies and practices that create unfair

disparities between minority and majority groups, (c) racial inequities are so deeply

ingrained in American society that they are nearly invisible, and (d) most White Americans are
unaware of the advantages they enjoy in this society and of how their attitudes and actions

unintentionally discriminate against persons of color,” (Sue, D.W. et. al. American Psychologist).

Racism is so deep and so ingrained that we cannot see it. So maybe the people who say “I don’t

see color” should say “I can’t see color.”

After taking the Race Implicit Association Test, I found the activity to be interesting as to

how they come up with your results. I scored that I moderately favor African Americans over

European Americans. Growing up multiracial, I am not surprised by this result. I also grew up in

a diverse neighborhood and went to a diverse school. I was around more people of color than I

was around European Americans; I felt like I could relate to them more.

Racism and stereotypes go hand in hand. Being Asian American I have always known

this to be true. By looking at me, everyone assumes that I must be a great student and I must

be good at math. Before people even speak to me, I feel like I am put in a box that I know I do

not necessarily belong in. Listening to the NPR story really rang true to me. “Greenwald says if

you can't see the individual, you'll be making assumptions that may or may not be true. Still,

stereotyping helps us make sense of a confusing social world. That's why researchers say that

the urge to sort people into groups seems hardwired in our brains. We start putting people in

categories very early, even in infancy, starting with visual cues like sex, age and race. We go on

to do the same thing for other groups. We have stereotypes of cheerleaders, drug dealers,

librarians,” (Stereotypes are Only Human, NPR). Even if people do not intend to be racist with

their stereotyping, it may still come across as hurtful. People try to play off stereotypes with

humor, saying “it’s just a joke,” but is it? Is it really a joke or is that really what you think of me,
but instead of admitting you are racist, you want to be playful and pretend to be accepting? I

find that it is a really hard line to draw in the sand.

Watching the New York Times short story ‘A Conversation with Asian-Americans on

Race,” I felt a lot of the same feelings that were said. After watching I looked to see when it was

made; it was made in 2016. Again, the fact that we are still sitting here talking about the same

things, no matter the race, is disappointing. It makes me feel like America will never learn. I do

think that there is more awareness, but I also think that people may not even recognize racism

against Asian Americans. I think that a lot of people just see racism as black and white, not

everyone else in between. I believe that Asian Americans are looked down upon in a different

light now with Covid. There are people who see all Asians as Chinese; therefore all Asians are

responsible for the transmission of Covid-19, or the ‘Chinese Virus’ as President Trump has

called it. So now, not only do people think I am good at math, but they also think I have Covid?

Working at Starbucks, I have witnessed racism, but within the actual brand I have not.

Starbucks is a very liberal brand. They fall heavy with social justice and equality. So while I

cannot correlate any discrimination with Starbucks, I can with my wife’s line of work. My wife

works at a local non-profit residential facility for children and adults with disabilities. As part of

their admission process, they have interviews and observations with potential residents. As she

sits through admission meetings, she tells me some of the things that people she works with

will say to new families. One that plays back in my ear is when she told me that people will say

“our campus looks like the city of Chicago.” Their campus is so diverse that the make up looks

like all of Chicago. That is really nice in theory, but in reality, a solid majority of the residents are

white. It is not diverse, and it does not look like the city of Chicago. These statements are not
malicious, nor do they intend to be excluding any race. “Persistent racial inequality in

employment, housing, and other social domains has renewed interest in the possible role of

discrimination,” (Pager, D. & Shepherd, H.). I do not believe that the racial inequality of their

residents is malicious. I know that it is not like that for a racist driven reason, but why? The

campus could be white because of cultural differences. Some cultures do not want their

children to live anywhere else, some cultures do not want to ask for help. I wonder, do the

people there see color? Or are they simply not looking?