Blog Post #2

 Blog Post #2

Article: “Colorblindness is the New Racism”

Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight

Author: Margalynne J. Armstrong and Stephanie M. Wildman

Talking Points

(Beginning of Text)

From the first part of the reading from “Colorblindness is the New Racism” the authors start stating that “Unacknowledged while privilege pervades U.S. society and culture.”  Peggy McIntosh (1988) “described white privilege as a knapsack of benefits of which the holder could remain oblivious”. This is an interesting take, with this “knapsack”, which ties into Dr. Allan Johnson’s reading that we covered last week, that even if you don’t realize that you have benefits or privilege, for example as a white man, you in fact, do. We talked about this in our small breakout group last week during class.  Armstrong and Wildman continue that “With Whiteness as the default assumption, Whites can claim they do not discriminate because they often do not think in racial terms”. I have seen this in my own family with Social Media posts on Facebook, which I alluded to in my Blog Post #1 last week. What starts off as apparently with a vague or subtle referral to what is going on politically, for example, what is happening with Minnesota and ICE with the recent shootings and killing of protesters, including comments made that they shouldn’t even have been there. In the United States, people generally agree that people have a right to peacefully protest, however, they seem “colorblind” when not seeing that what these protestors are doing is to fight back versus systemic racism. The text continues that Racism does not exist to Whites who reason “Racism is not my problem because I am not someone with a race nor do I think badly about other races. I do not even usually think about race.” This is a classic Strawman argument, when it comes to refuting the argument that racism really even exists, or counter with white people being reversely discriminated against due to D.E.I. policies.

(Middle of Text)

The text continues that although "the focus of this chapter is on white privilege, it is important

to remember that interlocking systems of privilege, across multiple identity categories, such as

gender, economic wealth, sexual orientation, and physical ability, serve to mask and reinforce

all forms of systematic privilege (Banks, Pliner, & Hopkins) From the reading,

“The power line divided those who were privileged for each identity category from those who

were not; those above the line are privileged for each identity category from those who were not;

those above the line are privileged with respect to those below it.” The text provides an example.

Students attending the charter school where I teach, where the majority of are from Providence

and surrounding communities, would identify largely as a non white demographic. While

non white male students are not privileged in regards to race, they may be privileged in regards

to gender and may or not be disadvantaged due to economic class. This section of this reading

continues that “Public education in the United States provides one example of this process of

attempts to attack privilege that serve to reinscribe it.” It continues “The law prohibits

segregation in public schools yet inequality in opportunity and caliber of education remains

rampant (Ogletree, 2004). From the reading, "White students are generally afforded the best

educational opportunities in the United States, while these benefits elude many students of color.

And because colorblindness has become the new touchstone in race discourse, it is more difficult

than ever to recognize discrimination and to talk about it (Wise, 2010, Wise & Case)."

(End of Text)

Later in the reading, it states that "Learning about race and understanding its operation in

the world is a key step for all members of society and certainly for people who will practice

law or serve the public in the 21st century.  It is no longer likely that any college graduate will

work in a homogenous community for his or her entire career." The reading continues without

understanding "how privilege operates", students will be "ill-equipped to work effectively in a

diverse environment." The authors continue with "If students do not grapple with issues of

privilege while still in school, they may never acquire the insight or ability to recognize and

combat racism and other subordination." I can relate to this as I recall that I really wasn't

exposed to a more "urban" population until I worked in Foot Locker as a Management Trainee in Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1991 when I was 21 years old.

Although there was limited diversity in my hometown and in the college that I graduated

from, it wasn't until I worked in an urban Footlocker store that I was exposed to greater

diversity. I mentioned in my blog from last week that I thought there were some questionable

practices regarding customers stated by the store managers, who may have been directed by

their bosses, or at least the store managers who trained them.  This is particularly tied to

practices of accepting checks. I remember that the manager of the Brockton store told us

to refer to a list of names to who to not accept checks from, as they supposedly had passed

bad checks at this store in the past. I don't know how legitimate that this list actually was,

and don't remember paying attention to it when I rang up a sale. I recall thinking at the time

that this was really a sign of racism, though I really wasn't sure at the time, being just

21 years old, and with my first "real job", if you don't include my work at Burger King

while in high school, and my work for my town's Recreation Department in the summers

while attending college. The authors continue by mentioning the Trayvon Martin

situation (2012), which involved the killing of a Black teenager who was walking back

to his father's fiancee's house from a nearby convenience store, who was shot and killed by

someone (who was an Hispanic- American) who was part of the local "Community Watch".

Due to Florida's stand-your-ground" law, George Zimmerman

was charged and tried, but a jury acquitted him of second-degree murder and manslaughter

in July 2013 (Source: Wikipedia)

Argument Statement:

From the reading, the authors state that "Discrimination cannot end absent an understanding of the privilege dynamic that enables discrimination to continue."

Colorblind ideology operates as a new form of racism by promoting the pretense that race no longer matters, which suppresses discussions on structural inequality, upholds white privilege, and ignores ongoing racial discrimination. It masks systemic racism, allowing disparities in education, housing, and justice to persist unchallenged. 

(Utilized Google A.I. Prompt with the main argument of this reading) 

Connections and Additional Personal Thoughts:

The rock band Shinedown, has refused to play Kid Rock's MAGA inspired music festival, after the rapper Ludacris backed out, and Ludacris was criticized. Some of Shinedown's fans have criticized the band for "being woke" by dropping out of the festival. The band stated that they dropped out to avoid political controversy, stating that by participating, they would create further division. Now they are part of the controversy. Kid Rock is performing as an alternative to Bad Bunny during the time of the Super Bowl half time show on other platforms. Bill Maher also mentioned this in his opening monologue this week. From CNN's special on Bad Bunny and his half time show during the Super Bowl, it was stated before the closing of the show that "Bad Bunny is equity. Bad Bunny is inclusion." I am writing this the evening prior to the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots verses the Seattle Seahawks. I am interested to see both Bad Bunny's performance, as well as the reactions. The title of CNN's Bad Bunny Special is "Bad Bunny & The Halftime Show: Rhythm's of Resistance. The description of the special is "This pop-driven hour examines hour examines the global icon and what his presence on the NFL stage reveals about race, identity, capitalism, and American Culture." The reaction to Bad Bunny, who just won Album Of The Year on the 2026 Grammys, to perform on the Super Bowl Halftime stage reveals volumes about how people view race and what is "American", even though Bad Bunny is an American Citizen from Puerto Rico, a United States territory. During Bad Bunny's Grammy Speech, which is the first non English album to win a Grammy Award, he said after denouncing ICE that "We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans." The punk rock band Green Day, which is one of the best selling rock groups of all time, is opening the Super Bowl with their performance, and has also spoken out against ICE and the way that they are targeting people. The classic rock artist Bruce Springsteen, with Tom

Morello, also released a protest song this week, verses ICE's actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which protests the shootings and killings of the ICE protestors recently in Minneapolis.

Video: Mellody Hobson, Color Blind or Color Brave? (Ted Talk, 14 min)

Personal Thoughts and Reflections from the Ted Talk:

In the Ted Talk by Mellody Hobson on racial discrimination, who is a Black woman, and a Finance Executive, starts her talk by mentioning that 30 years ago, she and 2 other black Finance workers, who were dressed in suits, where questioned as to "where are your uniforms?" They were mistaken for kitchen help. The speaker relays another story, at 7 years old, to when her Mother asked how did the other kids treat her at the birthday party, instead of asking her how was the party.

One point that Hobson makes is that conversations about race is "Touching the 3rd rail", and that the 1st step to any form of action (regarding race) is awareness. She continues with that the United States is made of 30% White Men, but they compose of 70% of the Board Executive jobs in the country. Hobson continues that by having Color Blindness, people "pretend that they don't see race" which is very dangerous. She states that you should make yourself comfortable to being uncomfortable regarding race, and not to be color blind. Instead, be color brave. Regarding companies, she states that not because it's just the right thing to do, but it's also the smart thing to do.

A second point that the speaker talks about race is that her favorite example of bravery is a guy named John Skipper, who ran ESPN, who is White and a Southerner, who demanded that every open position, have a diverse set of candidates. His executives would ask him, "Do you want me to hire the minority, or do you want to hire the best person for the job?" Skipper would say "yes". This is a good line.

A third point that the speaker said that "you can be color brave". One of the points that the speaker made in her speech is that her Mother told her that she, as a Black female child, could do anything. This was a very strong statement to make to a child. In watching Bad Bunny's performance at the Super Bowl this evening, I really liked when the small child received a Grammy. A representation that a small non English child can do anything. This ties into the speaker's point and what her Mother told her as a small child. The speaker's point that we need to be brave for kids today, and to let kids know that "anything is possible." Hobson is asking you to have courage, and to be color brave.

Shinedown Photo Credit:

By Thrashbandicoot01 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110844901

Technology, Links, Other Texts, References, and Additional Connections:

(Note: I used A.I. to create some of the hyperlinks automatically, through the Blogger application.)

Straw Man Photo:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man#/media/File:McKinley_Destroys_Imperialism_Straw_Man.jpg

By William Allen Rogers; scanned by Bob Burkhardt - Harper's Weekly, September 22, 1900, p. 881., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5255480

White Privilege Video (Peggy McIntosh):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLgbw_A1mLI

Psychology Today Article:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism

Minnesota ICE Protestors:

Vox article Regarding Minnesota ICE Protesters and Support:

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/476621/how-to-help-minnesota-protests-ice-volunteer-donate

Stand With Minnesota:

https://www.standwithminnesota.com/

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/video/observers-say-ice-agents-are-going-incognito-in-minnesota-and-more-headlines/

Shinedown:

Shinedown Controversy:

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/kid-rock-maga-country-music-festival-loses-shinedown-1236654617/

https://nypost.com/2026/02/07/entertainment/shinedown-pulls-out-of-rock-the-country-festival-as-disappointed-fans-slam-woke-decision-to-cancel/

Shinedown's "Second Chance" Official Video (2009)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbsDPbr8qoM

Bad Bunny:

Bad Bunny CNN Special

Here is a link to the CNN Special on Bad Bunny, broadcast the eve before Super Bowl 60.

Bad Bunny's Grammy Speech

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bad-bunny-grammys-win-boosts-streaming-numbers-1235511114/

Green Day:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/billie-joe-armstrong-ice-agents-green-day-pre-super-bowl-gig-1235512802/

Green Day's "American Idiot" Official Video (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_uujKuJMI

Bruce Springsteen:

Bruce Springsteen's live debut of his protest song "Streets Of Minneapolis" in Minneapolis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMexHF9LK5I

Bruce Springsteen with Tom Morello this past week playing their protest concert at First Avenue, Minneapolis. (1/30/26)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xknjAm5fa4