One Instance Where Color Adds Nothing
You come home at the end of your work day and you begin telling someone in your family about an incident that happened earlier in the day. It involves another person who works in your office or place of business.
In the first few seconds of telling the story, you identify the color of the other person. If you are white, you say early on, “This black woman who works in accounting…”
Of course, if you are white and the other person is white, you never mention the color or race. You would not say, “This white woman who works in accounting…” In fact, if you said that, the person listening to you would say, “Why are you telling me that the person is white? What does that have to do with the story?”
Why do feel it is necessary to refer to the other person’s color when it differs from our own?
We often do the same thing when referring to a person born in another country. An American might say something like, “This Indian man at work” or “This Chinese woman.”
I can only speak from the perspective of a white American, although I suppose many people of other races and nationalities do the same thing.
We lose touch with our spirit when we classify others based on race or nationality. Our mind loves to point out the differences in others, even when those differences are irrelevant. We rarely see people as people. We live in a world that is one big “WE,” yet most of us view it as “US” and “THEM.”
I’m learning to develop the habit of not mentioning a person’s race or nationality when it has no importance to the story. Guarding my language in this way allows me to see the common bond I share with others, instead of our superficial differences.
Some of you might say that we should broaden this principle and not limit it to the distinctions we make in language. We should give up all prejudice, even in our thinking. I won’t argue with you. You’re right.
Yet I know that virtually every human that walks this earth has been strongly conditioned to be prejudiced. Even people we consider as saintly have some prejudice. Sure, we should drop the prejudices and see everyone equally. But this isn’t something we will achieve overnight.
What we can do is clear up our language immediately. It gives a message to our brain – and to the brain of the other person we are talking to — that distinctions of race and nationality are no longer needed.
It’s an important first step that just might help us in shedding some of the rest of our prejudices.
– Jeff Keller
© 2008