The topic of this controversial position paper is the place of the colored community in a diverse society. It proposes a statement regarding whether or not a colorblind society will end discrimination and addresses issues related to diversity, ethnicity, and culture. Model of variety; The arguments and counterarguments will center on multicultural or colorblind societies. The counter contention upholds the underpinning of serious areas of strength for which closes past injuries. The counterclaims that this emphasis on a colorblind society is to maintain white privilege rather than address racism are the rebuttal.
The chosen topic is the question of whether putting an emphasis on a society that is colorblind is an answer to racism. Ethnic, cultural, and other forms of discrimination against people of color are at the heart of this problem. The question is whether a colorblind society in which race, ethnicity, and skin color are ignored would eradicate discrimination.
PSYC FPX3540 Assessment 3 Controversial Topic Position Paper
Position and Contentions
Stressing a visually challenged society isn’t a solution to end prejudice. A partially blind society is a way to deal with end bigotry. This idea implies that there will be no discrimination in society if race or ethnicity is ignored, which seems impossible given the diversity of American communities. African-American racial segregation had a set of experiences a long way back, and it went through numerous lawful and social elements. However, people continue to experience discrimination in multiple areas of life, including employment, education, home ownership, and other institutions. For instance, black people make up 58.8% of the workforce, while white people make up 59.9% and Hispanic people 63.1 percent. In the scholastic region, credit procured for hued is 23%, while white scored 40%. In a similar vein, citizens of color lack health insurance compared to citizens of white races (Ward, 2020). This demonstrates the persistence of discrimination in America today. Black Americans still experience institutional discrimination, according to the protests and statistics. For example working environment, one Harvard concentrate on shows that when individuals of color changed their names to white names, they were getting return calls by 25% (Ward, 2020).
Racism is not solved by CB society
The first step toward addressing racism is acknowledging the issue, and in this case, the concept of a colorblind society is equivalent to completely ignoring the existence of colorblind individuals (Hoskin, n.d.). I don’t think a colorblind society is the answer because ignoring someone’s race, ethnicity, and cultural identity will also ignore their values and the reasons they act the way they do. Discrimination will result if a person’s race, gender, or culture is not acknowledged.
Counterarguments
PSYC FPX3540 Assessment 3 Controversial Topic Position Paper
The advocators of a partially blind society have made a positive picture and pattern as #AllLivesMatter and ‘I don’t see tone, I simply see individuals’ to do antiracist crusade (Steckervetz, 2021). The advocates of a colorblind society hold the belief that hyping racism results from discussing racism and discrimination. They assert that the concept of a color-blind society will provide an opportunity to forget the past and put current trauma aside before interacting, bringing an end to all historical animosity associated with racism. According to Plaut et al., the ideal society is one in which people are distinguished by personality rather than race, where the majority does not need to resent minorities for having unfair privileges, and where the government does not need to interfere in school admission or employment, and where etiquette is based on 2018).
The advocators guarantee that they don’t really accept that racial or ethnic separation is currently important for American culture; rather, it is the customized occurrence of bigotry (Cunningham and Scarlato, 2018). It claims to change the social trajectory of diversity and racism by introducing equity in schools, colleges, workplaces, and politics as well. Teachers, when asked how many diverse students they have in a class, respond that they cannot tell because they do not notice color. Health industry workers say that they do not accept any disparity in their organization as a result of their organization’s race-neutral policy. They believe that a colorblind society reduces racism by targeting ego-protective features (Plaut et al., 2018).
CB Society is the solution to Bigotry
An American abolitionist president named Wendell Phillips involved the visually challenged approach by presenting a position in government for partially blind people (Finkenbine, 2005). It was to kill any regulations in light of race and natural elements like skin. The purpose of colorblindness was to achieve this objective socially and legally, just as the goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to abolish laws that discriminated against African Americans. The figurative significance of ‘visually challenged’ is the best way to deal with giving evenhanded open doors and assets to all gatherings inside the general public. This demonstrates that visually challenged society is a response to ending a race-biased framework. Watch the “blind orchestra audition,” in which judges select contestants from behind a veil, to see how a colorblind society is put into practice (Marino, 2022). to avoid making biased decisions and keep the performer’s identity a secret. This kind of ignorance is beneficial to everyone.
Rebuttals (Cunningham & Scarlato, 2018)
In response to advocates of color-blind theory, individuals assert that white people emphasize color-blind theory more than the colored community. The institutional strategies for introducing a colorblind society are designed solely to maintain white supremacy. According to a study, a colorblind approach has a negative impact on dance education. The study also discusses the solution by highlighting the role that race plays in discrimination and racist practices, challenging the neutrality of whiteness. According to the social cognitive theory (Prichard, 2019), a person goes through four stages before adopting a behavior: they observe, ingrain the idea in their mind, play the role, and perform various actions in response to reward or punishment (Amodio, 2019). Cognitive and social factors drive all of this. The preventing presence from getting bigotry issue wouldn’t determine it yet just make it a certain method for conveying bias, prejudice and separation. Color evasion, a related theory to rebuttal, may also lead to power evasion. By ignoring race or color, anti-black sentiments rise, causing colored people to lose their identity, causing misunderstandings, invalidating experiences, and removing the topic from the discussion rather than making it a priority.
PSYC FPX3540 Assessment 3 Controversial Topic Position Paper
The White House would not establish a committee to eradicate all forms of racism if racism were not a significant problem and ignoring race would make it simple to reduce discrimination (The White House, 2021). Measurements demonstrate that in business standards, well-being, higher positions like Chief, financial, and even equity framework, minority individuals are obviously separated. For instance, the white race experienced the lowest unemployment rate of 3.9% during COVID-19 (Ward, 2020). Only six black companies out of 681 on the Fortune 500 list in 2022 had CEOs (Ward, 2020). According to Ward (2020), the white race’s per capita income is $48.7K, while the black race’s is $29.6K. When compared to the population of the United States, the number of people who have been sentenced to prison is surprisingly higher. The number of arrests for drug possession and marijuana possession also differ significantly (Ward, 2020). Supportive Evidence The statistics and arguments make it clear that the colorblind society is an emphasis on white people and is not supported by colored people at any level.
This disparity exists in all aspects of life, making it impossible to believe that turning blind can make a significant difference. According to Crandall & Eshleman (2003), white people are using their beliefs and values as justifications, which amounts to implicit discrimination. In addition, this makes the justice, educational, workplace, and health systems exclusive rather than inclusive. The difference in training, media, well-being, lodging, and law enforcement is still important for American culture, for example, more brutal disciplines for shaded understudies in school and individuals in penitentiaries. According to Plaut et al., the ideal society is multicultural and color conscious. 2018). The fact that white people dismiss and ignore the concerns of a person of color is the source of the ethical concerns. It eliminates the believability of bigotry and closures amazing chances to address it, consequently denying fundamental freedoms. Due to the colorblind society’s agenda, the white community also shows less empathy for racial issues and more apathy toward racism (Plaut et al., 2018).
Conclusion
PSYC FPX3540 Assessment 3 Controversial Topic Position Paper
The chosen contentious issue concerned the possibility of a colorblind society eliminating racial discrimination. From a personal standpoint, the oblivion attitude is unworkable. Racial and cultural discrimination is still a topic of discussion among ethnic minorities. The opposing argument asserts that less discussion results in fewer complications. Their institutionalized strategies of implementing color-blind policies often portray a society that is all-inclusive, but the black community challenges this strategy. According to people of color, this is yet another form of marginalization for black people, disregarding their concerns and favoring the white race. The evidence suggests that the idea of a colored-blind society succeeding is denied by ethical concerns in all fields.
References
Amodio, D. M. (2019). Social Cognition 2.0: An Interactive Memory Systems Account. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(1), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.10.002
Crandall, C. S., & Eshleman, A. (2003). A justification-suppression model of the expression and experience of prejudice. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 414–446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.414
Cunningham, B. A., & Scarlato, A. S. M. (2018). Ensnared by colorblindness: discourse on health care disparities. Ethnicity & Disease, 28(Supp 1), 235. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.28.s1.235
Finkenbine, R. E. (2005). Wendell Phillips and “The Negro’s Claim”: A neglected reparations document. Massachusetts Historical Review, 7, 105–119. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25081197
Hoskin, M. N. (n.d.). Color-Blindness perpetuates structural racism. Forbes. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from
Marino, S. (2022). Orchestrating Equity: What antidiscrimination law can learn orchestrating equity: what antidiscrimination law can learn from blind hiring in American orchestras from blind hiring in American orchestras repository citation repository citation. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=prize_papers
Plaut, V. C., Thomas, K. M., Hurd, K., & Romano, C. A. (2018). Do color blindness and multiculturalism remedy or foster discrimination and racism? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 200–206. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418766068
Prichard, R. (2019). From color-blind to color-conscious. Journal of Dance Education, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2018.1532570
Steckervetz, L. (2021, November 2). Research help: Anti-racism Resources: What Does Racism Look Like? Colorblindness. Fitchburgstate.libguides.com. https://fitchburgstate.libguides.com/c.php?g=1046516&p=7616506
The White House. (2021, March 21). Fact Sheet: U.S. Efforts to Combat Systemic Racism. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/21/fact-sheet-u-s-efforts-to-combat-systemic-racism/
Ward, S. G., Andy Kiersz, Michelle Mark, Ruobing Su, Marguerite. (2020, July 8). 26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren’t convinced racism is still a problem in America. Business Insider.
