I Don’t See Color

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I don’t even see color.

I like Drake. I think Tayshia is an awesome Bachelorette. I would’ve voted for Barack Obama a third time if I could. One of my best friends is a black CIO. I don’t get why Stassi was fired from “Vanderpump Rules”. I don’t even know why this Wikipedia article exists which chronicles every single racial slur ever used, because its definitely unnecessary. This list is from someone that sees color, unlike myself and Greg Clarke.

Clarke, the Chairman of the England Football Association, resigned this week under extraordinary circumstances. Clarke virtually spoke at a conference held by a Parliamentary committee asking why soccer wasn’t more inclusive in England. Clarke said:

The answer is I don’t know, right, because I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people from the LGBT community. I’ve talked to LGBT athletes from other sports who have come out. The views I’ve heard is if I look at what happens to high-profile female footballers, high-profile coloured footballers and the abuse they take on social media.

Clarke mentioned a ton of other questionable phrases, such as more Asian people work in I.T. than Afro-Caribbeans, but the phrase that everyone focused on was the above-mentioned phrase of “coloured footballers”. In his apology, he claims that he simply confused coloured people with “people of color” which he learned to use while working in the United States. Clarke thought the phrases were interchangeable, and as another person that doesn’t see color frankly I feel sorry for him.

As I’ve stated in a previous newsletter, what is the difference between colored people, minorities and people of color? Seems like Clarke and I aren’t alone in this confusion, based on the sheer number of articles I’ve found asking to differentiate between the terms. If there’s confusion at such renowned publications such as CNN, NPR, The New Yorker, Washington Post, Slate and the Chicago Tribune, how am I supposed to make heads or tails of the current climate? It’s not a black and white situation, but I wouldn’t be able to tell regardless.

I’d love to hear from you regarding what you think of the topic. I’m genuinely curious, because I don’t see color.