Yeah, I don't think I worded this in the best way. I am not trying to advocate for people making significant decisions about others based on race, or really any decisions at all. But he criticized the reommendation of a color blind world and then, in my opinion, advocated for one. I was trying to show that by removing the assumptive part of race (as I think you mostly should) you can only react to people based on their actions and how they say they want to be treated. I believe this is a color blind society. No presumptions, but people can still address their race.
I don't personally believe in a purely color blind society, though. I mean, in the article he talks about how it makes him feel when people are surprised by the fact he works in a technical field, which is fine, his feelings are valid. I just don't see anything strange, rude or racist about a person being surprised about a black person doing CS, we are a very small portion of the degrees given in CS, in particular, degrees from prestigious universities (At Stanford about 6%, compared to Asians at 36% and Whites at 38%). And we are a much larger percentage of, say, football players or basketball players. I am not saying you should go an buy your black neighbor Air Jordans so he adds you to his posse when he goes pro, but I do think acting like some one who asks a 6 foot 2 inch tall, 240 pound black guy if he plays football is racist is counterproductive.
When I went to the courthouse in St Louis to get our marriage license, both me (dark brown) and my wife (very white) had to swear under oath that we were not related.
I get a chuckle from telling that story, but it's a silly attempt to be "color blind."
To me, "color blind" means the complete abolishment of race as an issue, and I think that will actually hold us back from the real goal: where people are measured and judged by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin.
I believe your race makes up a part of who you are, and society should not do away with that.
> I just don't see anything strange, rude or racist about a person being surprised about a black person doing CS, we are a very small portion of the degrees given in CS
A single person, just an isolated incident. Happening over and over again, I can easily empathize there.
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Another anecdote about me and race. As a teenager, I worked at Burger King at a local mall. I noticed that by and large, black people would either get Orange Soda, or Sprite with their combo meals, with the occasional person asking for iced tea. It got to the point where I would automatically hover over the "sprite" and "orange" buttons on the cash register when a black person would order. Then there was one black guy who ordered a coke.
I don't personally believe in a purely color blind society, though. I mean, in the article he talks about how it makes him feel when people are surprised by the fact he works in a technical field, which is fine, his feelings are valid. I just don't see anything strange, rude or racist about a person being surprised about a black person doing CS, we are a very small portion of the degrees given in CS, in particular, degrees from prestigious universities (At Stanford about 6%, compared to Asians at 36% and Whites at 38%). And we are a much larger percentage of, say, football players or basketball players. I am not saying you should go an buy your black neighbor Air Jordans so he adds you to his posse when he goes pro, but I do think acting like some one who asks a 6 foot 2 inch tall, 240 pound black guy if he plays football is racist is counterproductive.