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To Be Colorblind

As we strive for justice there is continual pressure to conform to majority norms in effort to be free from harm. We in turn have to teach our children not to wear hoodies or dark colors. “Wait, Don’t be suspicious.” This still doesn't relieve the threat on the lives of our children. Why are we constantly being told to change who we are to be accepted, to be safe, to be respected, and loved? Skin tones and the culture in which they are perceived to align with meet varying hardships, pressures, and threats that are not to be ignored. Our browns are beautiful; my black is beautiful.

Colorblindness is another way many seek to silence me and my experience, as a person of color, saying it must be so, in order for POC to be treated as equals.

To that I say...

See my color
Treat me as equal anyway
Hear my pain
Respect my experience anyway

My color is not hindering me
From working hard but
It hinders your perception of my work ethic

My color does not delay my intelligence
Instead
It colors your perception that
I cannot be not smart enough to earn my scholarships

My color doesn’t preclude me
From being an engaged citizen
It taints your ideas of the possibility
I could care for this country

My color doesn’t make me more dangerous
But
You associate my dark complexion to which your evil is kin

My color doesn’t silence my voice
The shame you carry amplifies the cries of my ancestors

You cannot kill the spirit which my brown wraps
Resilience is the thread binding my quilt of resistance
Its warmth soothes my heartache

My color is not my problem
It is yours
I love the brown I’m in.

Love all of me
Love unconditionally
A just world becoming

By Nicole Jordan
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