People of Color Vignette #1
(no race or ethnic group specified)

A large business has been making an attempt to diversify its staff.  Over a one-year period it went from employing three to twelve persons of color. During a Human Resources meeting, the HR director mentions he’s been thinking of asking the company managers and the HR staff, all of whom are white, to attend a racial diversity training.  The assistant HR director says, “Is this really necessary?  I don’t pay any attention to someone’s race.  As far as I’m concerned there’s only one race and it’s the human race.  Aren’t we all on the same page here?”

Commentary to People of Color Vignette #1

In one sense the assistant director is correct.  There is no biological or genetic basis for race.  The genetic variation between people of two different racial groups can be less than the variation within the same group.  Biologically there is only one "race."

On a practical level, however, being a member of a particular race has a great impact on one’s life -- for example, in terms of the likelihood of getting certain jobs or of being stopped by police.  We can’t wish that impact away by saying that we are color-blind.  James Baldwin termed this kind of color-blindness “willed ignorance.”

When white folks “don’t pay any attention to someone’s race,” they sometimes end up assuming that a person of color’s experience is the same as theirs, that what works for them also works for a person of color.  For example, if I, a European American, feel safe in a particular work environment, I then assume that a black employee would feel the same.

Moreover, there are physical and cultural differences between groups of people.  Recognizing and celebrating these differences is part of what makes human life so interesting.

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