Color Blindness and Racism

[BravoWhiskey5280]

I hate colors cause Im legitimately 100% color blind, i.e. what I see as green is red to most people. So I've lived to learn with the fact that I see stuff in a complete different color than most. It was annoying at first because I didn't know what the fuck people were talking about when they'd say things like "hey go grab that blue thing over there." Eventually I just said fuck it though cause I it was dumb for me to allow something as trivial as a color to piss me off. Now when people are describing things to me with a color I just tell to them that they need to tell me what it physically is that they are describing to me to get in the future or else I'll be clueless about what they are talking about. I also don't use colors to describe things anymore as well. I used to say shit like "hey look at that yellow sign" and people would look at me like Im retarded so now I just avoid that by describing things by what they physically are instead. A lot people that aren't aware Im color blind still do this, but I've gotten to the point to where I could care less about not seeing shit in the right color anymore. A red truck is still a truck so I realized its the actual physical item that makes up something, not its color.

I was thinking though, If we did this when it comes to describing people too than would it fix racism. Instead of saying "hey look at that black man over there", just say "he look at that man over there." Like I said earlier, I red truck is still truck. So a black man is still a man just like a white man is a man. If we consciously forced our selves to not label people by their color than maybe it'd fix racism. Of course it'd still be in the back of the minds of those who are racists. But maybe if they forced them selves to do this than they'd eventually not see people by their color, but just as a human being. Similar to how I trained myself to see objects by what they actually are and not by there color.

 

[BravoWhiskey5280]

We'd have to eliminate all of the things we in society that use color, i.e NAACP, black and hispanic history month, etc... if we wanted this to work. I sadly don't see that happening anytime soon though so my idea is really just a fantasy.

 

[Barefootin_Fiend]

so you still see colors - just different colors than everyone else? how do you handle trying to not look like a complete jackass when you get dressed....like wearing a brown belt with black pants, etc.

/thread derail since you already know that eliminating racism is a fantasy.

 

[pat_in_the_hat]

but, like you said; it adds description.

when you say "Look at that man over there", there could be hundreds of people that fit that description. (at least 50% of the population).

but when you say "Look at that black man over there", it really narrows it down to fewer subjects.

In my mind, it is just adding description to narrow down the items. Its the same as saying a blonde girl, a girl pushing a stroller, etc. Which is identical to what you said in the first paragraph, its just that color happens to be the adjective since it is the most prevalent.

I mean sure, you could say it without adding color. Like "Look at that tall man with a big bottom lip and baggy clothes that is paying for his koolaid with food stamps". But that isnt much better

But, im just adding fuel to the fire by supporting the counterpoint, dont mind me.

 

[BravoWhiskey5280]

so you still see colors - just different colors than everyone else? how do you handle trying to not look like a complete jackass when you get dressed....like wearing a brown belt with black pants, etc.

/thread derail since you already know that eliminating racism is a fantasy.

Oh I lived to learn with the fact that I my close never match 90% of the time. My girlfriend picks out my clothes for me from time to time, but what girls want guys to wear and what guys actually want to wear are almost two complete different things most the time.

 

[BravoWhiskey5280]

but, like you said; it adds description.

when you say "Look at that man over there", there could be hundreds of people that fit that description. (at least 50% of the population).

but when you say "Look at that black man over there", it really narrows it down to fewer subjects.

In my mind, it is just adding description to narrow down the items. Its the same as saying a blonde girl, a girl pushing a stroller, etc. Which is identical to what you said in the first paragraph, its just that color happens to be the adjective since it is the most prevalent.

I mean sure, you could say it without adding color. Like "Look at that tall man with a big bottom lip and baggy clothes that is paying for his koolaid with food stamps". But that isnt much better

But, im just adding fuel to the fire by supporting the counterpoint, dont mind me.

No your fine man. Im not actually expecting for people to do this so its nothing personal or anything i take offense to. It was just merely something that I thought was interesting.

 

[BeeRad]

Well contrary to popular belief, there is no color, everything is a grey-ish color and our brains just make up colors and perceive them to be what they are, and we are all brought up being taught which "colors" are which and so on.

Source: College Psych Class

 

[Sno.]

black people want to be black.

 

[sbarlett]

Well contrary to popular belief, there is no color, everything is a grey-ish color and our brains just make up colors and perceive them to be what they are, and we are all brought up being taught which "colors" are which and so on.

Source: College Psych Class

Can't really wrap my head around this, therefore -k

 

[Sno.]

black people want to be black.

In other words-- a black man can be black, and maintain his identity, without including racism in the mix.

 

[Sno.]

Oh I lived to learn with the fact that I my close never match 90% of the time. My girlfriend picks out my clothes for me from time to time, but what girls want guys to wear and what guys actually want to wear are almost two complete different things most the time.

well i mean, don't you just get used to it? For instance, if you know brown goes with brown-- and let's just say to you brown appears blue--then you know that brown=blue, and therefore blue goes with blue.

 

[Ryno]

its pretty rattling to definitively know you don't visually perceive the world the same as everyone. it certainly helps makes sense of past issues lol. I agree though that the colour blindness usually is a none-issue for me on a day-to-day basis, its not like the shit is invisible to us.

 

[BravoWhiskey5280]

well i mean, don't you just get used to it? For instance, if you know brown goes with brown-- and let's just say to you brown appears blue--then you know that brown=blue, and therefore blue goes with blue.

Its more complicated than just switching the color I see with the actual color of what ever it is. Two different shades of one color for me could be two entirely different colors for people with normal color vision. Like my light brown could blue and dark brown be red. Since there are so many different shades of each individual color it makes it nearly impossible for me to decipher the actual color of something.

QUOTE=13098035:Ryno]its pretty rattling to definitively know you don't visually perceive the world the same as everyone. it certainly helps makes sense of past issues lol. I agree though that the colour blindness usually is a none-issue for me on a day-to-day basis, its not like the shit is invisible to us.[/QUOTE]

Yeah people can have some pretty crazy ideas about what its like. Like I said to the other guy though, since there are so many different shades of each color its sometimes impossible to tell what that true color may be. It's honestly shocking how little research/science has been done on the deficiency. We know that everyone who is color blind is deficient at different levels, some are more than others. Theres like one machine in the world thats still in its infancy that can attempt to determine ones level but thats it, and if you want it to test you than it costs thousands of dollars.

Thats why I think some color blind people could build some seriously legitimate disability discrimination cases against companies and entities that don't allow color blind people to do certain things. The test they use to determine it shows no level of ones severity of his deficiency. Its a book they used that really doesn't have much science supporting its outcome. So if a company tells a guy he can't do something because he's colorblind than theres a chance that he may be only be a tiny bit. I tried to get into flying before I knew I was color blind and sadly found out in my flight physical. Of course this had to be after I had enrolled in school and started my flight lessons as well. You can get a waiver through the FAA but that process takes years and very tough for guys like me to pass.

I also say "his" because its seen almost only in men, something ridiculous like 99.89 percent of people color blind are men. Its hereditary so only guys chromosomes can pick up the gene, which can ironically only be passed down through the mother.

 

[BravoWhiskey5280]

And I accidentally called snobunny a guy. I do that a lot on NS with the female members because of the color of the text for their member names. It looks blue to me so its hard to tell the difference.

The one thing I've seen that helps people with color blindness is theres a colorblind option when playing COD. It truly does make the game much easier for me.

 

[louie.mirags]

And I accidentally called snobunny a guy. I do that a lot on NS with the female members because of the color of the text for their member names. It looks blue to me so its hard to tell the difference.

her name is blue though so you're good

 

[.Hugo.]

And I accidentally called snobunny a guy. I do that a lot on NS with the female members because of the color of the text for their member names. It looks blue to me so its hard to tell the difference.

The one thing I've seen that helps people with color blindness is theres a colorblind option when playing COD. It truly does make the game much easier for me.

Snobunnys is blue ha

 

[BravoWhiskey5280]

her name is blue though so you're good

Welp there you go haha. I can get some shades of colors right, but it honestly makes it harder in a way lol.

 

[.frenchy]

How's calling a black man a black man racist? If a black person called me a white man I wouldn't think he's a racist.

Not tryin to start a shitstorm i'm just wondering how it's racist lol

 

[Holte]

And I accidentally called snobunny a guy. I do that a lot on NS with the female members because of the color of the text for their member names. It looks blue to me so its hard to tell the difference.

As a mildly red-green colorblind dude, I gotta agree with the pink/bluename thing. I have to look pretty closely in low light to differentiate the colors sometimes. It's obvious when glancing through the online list since all the names are right next to each other, but more difficult in actual threads in a dark room.

On another note, do you have problems with traffic lights? My grandmother, who is much more colorblind than I am, has to read lights by their position, which has always seemed a little sketchy.

 

[DasGoatenshafter]

There's no problem with identifying someone with an obvious descriptor. Its the double standard that a problem.

"Hey white guy" - not racist

"Hey black guy" - racist

People should celebrate their differences and not condemn each other for them.

On another angle, I also find that there is so much included in LGBTQ+ that it pushes towards more isolation rather than inclusion. Its tough to find the right balance so that everyone feels good about being who they are without isolating themselves and stirring up conflict with other groups.

 

[Barefootin_Fiend]

Its more complicated than just switching the color I see with the actual color of what ever it is. Two different shades of one color for me could be two entirely different colors for people with normal color vision. Like my light brown could blue and dark brown be red. Since there are so many different shades of each individual color it makes it nearly impossible for me to decipher the actual color of something.

holy shit, dude. that sounds fucking miserable.

 

[louie.mirags]

How's calling a black man a black man racist? If a black person called me a white man I wouldn't think he's a racist.

Not tryin to start a shitstorm i'm just wondering how it's racist lol

It depends how you are saying it. Like if you were describing how to find someone, sure call them black. If you say "this fucking black guy cut me off in traffic", it can be viewed as racist since who cares what color skin he has.

The problem is media, movies, our criminal justice system etc has portrayed to society that blacks are more likely to be criminals or be poor. When for example, black people don't do drugs statistically more than white people, but there are way more of them locked up. Or even if somebody says they are not racist, they would be way more scared (subconsciously) of a group of black teens verse a group of white teens. That is because of popular culture and the way they are portrayed in media..

 

[.frenchy]

It depends how you are saying it. Like if you were describing how to find someone, sure call them black. If you say "this fucking black guy cut me off in traffic", it can be viewed as racist since who cares what color skin he has.

Alright that makes sense thanks.

But maybe it's not even being racist if you say that, maybe you're just being specific. idk, guess it depends who says it/how you say it.

 

[El_Barto.]

Well contrary to popular belief, there is no color, everything is a grey-ish color and our brains just make up colors and perceive them to be what they are, and we are all brought up being taught which "colors" are which and so on.

Source: College Psych Class

Whoever taught you this is wrong. Color is a quantifiable measurment of the wavelength of light.