Rejecting the Myth of Colorblindness in Education

Colorblindness is a defect in the perception of colors, caused by a deficiency in specialized cells in the retina that are sensitive to different colors. The term is often used today during political discourse, often by members of some factions of liberalism, when claiming that one’s race should be irrelevant to any decision making process. It is a form of moral posturing; that one should see an individual as simply an individual, but not as part of any larger group or culture. As if this philosophy will enable us to bridge any gaps between races, this thought attempts to focus on how we are all the same, rather than how we differ. Teachers and administrators are required to complete coursework pertaining to multicultural education with the purpose of enabling them to better understand the students whom they teach. It is believed that when one understands the culture from which a student belongs, the teacher will be able to reach that student in a more effective manner. But how does this notion of “understanding” a student’s race or culture, thereby individualizing that student based on their race, reconcile with the idea of being colorblind in the classroom; that people are people and we are all the same? To properly educate students, a teacher must be allowed to recognize and understand the race, culture or ethnicity of those students.

The Multicultural Movement

The multicultural movement in education is deeply rooted, and the movement as we know it today dates back to the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Stemming from the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) decision and out of the demand by ethnic groups to be included in public schools, colleges, and universities, the main thrust of the mo...

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Christina Judith Hein. (2004, July). Color-Blindness vs. Race Matters: Pre-School Education and the Need for a Communal Vision. Multicultural Education, 51-53.

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Thomas Sowell. In Thomas Sowell, The Multicultural Cult. Www.townhall.com May 7, 2011, from the Townhall.com Web site: http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2010/10/19/ the_multicultural_cult