(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . I Don't See Color... [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-28 Biologically color serves a variety of very distinct purposes. Politically it has only EVER served ONE. Over the course of the last few decades (hopefully voluntarily), a majority of us on this progressive website have had enough, at least cursory, interactions with POC, to have at least a loose idea now that in the year 2023, the phrase, “ I don’t see color”, is to be considered highly offensive to the vast majority of POC living in a, still statistically, very institutionally white supremacist society. Hopefully with at least some accompanying idea of the myriad reasons why it should be viewed that way. That, for example, such a phrase unknowingly negates and erases the validity (and humanity) of the tens of millions of hard-fought, and very painfully learned and lived, experiences of those POC (and especially their ancestors — see also, Ron DeSantis). Thus, it’s an indirect reminder of (still) having to deal with their collective pains being conveniently erased in support of institutional white supremacy. So ideally, we should not only desire to see color, hopefully we should by now want to see and hear more and more of the multitudes of ways that our almost limitless cultural inputs from those different colors — both good and bad — enhances and increases our experiences of what it truly means to be Americans But sadly, I am now writing this diary because there is an extremely widespread parallel to that very phrase, “I don’t see color”, spreading like wildfire on the vast majority of the pages of the Daily Kos (and throughout progressive America), as we speak. And it potentially serves to do far greater damage, in the very near future, to POC (and America!) than could ever even be imagined with, “I don’t see color”! Because, ironically, it tacitly and (hopefully) unknowingly serves the same type of purpose as, “I don’t see color” did, only potentially much worse! Because we’re much further down the road. And that parallel lives in variations of the phrase, “The Republicans started our current climate of political insanity in the days of Nixon and Reagan!” But the problem is, that now overwhelmingly common narrative tacitly creates the same type of problem in the lives of POC that, “I don’t see color”, originally did. Because it, very similarly, conveniently erases and negates the billions of stories of pain and suffering that were done to them long before the current iteration of the Republican Party. Thus serving to falsely make exaggerated villains of the R’s, and saints of all Democrats...at the expense of POC. With one tiny catch! Provided we tacitly agree to go no further back in American history than the days of Nixon and Reagan in discussing “how we got here”. Which, once again, serves to erase the many centuries of prior pain and suffering by POC — at the hands of both D’s and R’s — conveniently from our collective minds. It conveniently erases a huge portion of the brutally violent history of POC in America. And that just happens to be far too close for comfort to what people like DeSantis are trying to do regarding CRT and Black history, on the other side of the political aisle. Erasing and watering down the other 400-plus years of our history for political purposes. For POC, “That dog ain’t ever, ever, ever gonna hunt!!!” Two words... “Truth and Reconciliation!!!” There will be no short cuts! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/28/2155349/-I-Don-t-See-Color Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/