Let’s face it, teaching a child to be colorblind isn’t just a stupid idea, it’s dangerous. By doing the whole, ‘We’re the same,’ thing, you’re dismissing what a black kid or any person of color deals with. Instead of tackling the hard truths of what racism is and how a person of color might have a different struggle than you, you teach them to ignore.
I get it. Talking about racism is hard. No parent wants to tell their children that their skin color determines their place in society. And especially white colorblind parents don’t want to admit that racism is still just as prevalent today as it was 60+ years ago. Instead, we want to glorify leaders like MLK and talk about how amazing it was that they helped end segregation, and thus racism. We want to act like our white privilege doesn’t exist anymore.