Assignment A: 

"Colorblindness is the New Racism"

Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight

Margalynne J.Arnstorn and Stephanie M. Wildman

According to Google: Colorblindness is the racial ideology that the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible without regard to their race, culture, or ethnicity.

I have had many feelings while reading this and realize that I have been completely unaware of my privilege my entire life. I am not a racist and have never thought the color of one's skin had mattered and I try to treat each person as an equal but I see now that I may have been colorblind. I agree when the author states on "whites reason, how can they be discriminating if they do not think about non-Whites in a derogatory manner, especially when they are not thinking about race at all? (Armstrong & Wildman, 2013, p. 63). The author argues that most people are colorblind and that "both Whites and people of color need to recognize their own and one another's individual privilege". (Armstrong & Wildman, 2013,p.71)  The systems of privilege continue as "impediments to equality". (Armstrong & Wildman, 2013,p.71).

The racial observation exercise really opened my eyes to the idea of developing color insight. "Color insight requires creating a setting to ensure the action and discussion of race is possible. It also requires observation and reflection", people "must observe race operating in the "real world" (Armstrong & Wildman, 2013,p.69), "Color insight requires a commitment not to sweep race under the rug but rather to name its presence and to examine its attributes from multiple perspectives, including the operation of privilege'. (Armstrong & Wildman, 2013, p.69) I am not actively doing this. I honestly did not know that by not doing this, I was doing it. 

    I completed my own racial observation and power line exercises.  I do not travel in a wide circle most days. (Actual names have been changed to protect the innocent :)

    I went to work today and tried to really pay attention to my co-workers some of who are my friends of color and non-White. In my summer job I work as the nurse during the summer program. I went to visit one of the classrooms. My friend Mary who is Hispanic and also a teachers assistant was busy interacting with the students, coloring, playing, etc. while my friend Susie, the lead teacher and White was sitting behind the desk, possibly working on the lesson plans for the day, by herself. There were other teacher assistants present, all White mostly talking amongst themselves and one other lead non-White teacher interacting with the students alone.  My friend Joe, the custodian and also non-White was very busy working. I also chatted with an administrator, non-White who was busy planning activities for the upcoming school year. Summer is his busy time.  I stopped by a convenience store on the way home to get gas and a couple of other things. The clerk was non-White and busy working. I am trying to discover my own privilege in this example. I suppose my whiteness and education provided me the opportunity to become a nurse and hold a position of respect? I obviously have more work to do. 

In completing the power line activity I am privileged in several categories and lack privilege in one category.
Talking about these attributes is something that I have not engaged with. 

Do I use the terms not white or say black or hispanic? I often find myself in place of not wanting to offend and not sure how people identify within their own race. How can I  go about changing anything however if this is a societal issue. 

In bringing this conversation to the classroom I will not have that opportunity as I am not a teacher however I think the reading brings some great ideas for a classroom teacher to start these conversations. I did use AI to research some ways in which I can remove Colorblindness in my health office. I found some great ideas and things I have not considered but will now. 

• Visual identification guides: Use reference materials such as the dermatological resource to train yourself and staff to recognize rashes, cyanosis, jaundice, and inflammation on dark skin tones, where symptoms present differently than on light skin.

• Use objective tools: Rely strictly on validated, identity-neutral pain scales (like the FACES scale or numeric charts) for every student.

• Multicultural bandages: Stock adhesive bandages in a wide variety of skin tones so "flesh-colored" bandages actually match your entire student body.
• Diverse hair care tools: Keep specialized combs, wide-tooth picks, and hair ties suitable for textured and Afro-textured hair, especially for lice checks or post-injury cleanup.        

Bad Bunny performance: 

I thought the Bad Bunny show was extremely visually captivating and told a beautiful story of the latino and puerto Rican cultures in multiple locations. As for not understanding the language that did not bother me, I used the subtitle option and I'm confident that it did not translate accurately and many of the English words did not fully express what was being said. I love the unity at the end of the performance. The reading about the Bad Bunny performance was very enlightening and filled in so many of the gaps for me to truly understand what the messages were and why they were so impactful to the Latino community. 

AI prompt: how can I bring the concept of colorblindness into my school health office?