There’s been a lot of conversation about race going on in the public discourse lately. And the truth is, the sensitive issue about race pops up periodically – not just here, but elsewhere in the world as well. In the 21st Century, it is rather baffling that this is an issue that humanity is still grappling with. Skin colour is something so completely frivolous, that I feel like I’m about to waste valuable space talking about it. But since it rears its head in more harmful ways anyway, I suppose it’s best to bring it up in a way where I can control the conversation.
Whenever racism crops up, there is inevitably the idealistic statement from people who say they are “colour blind.” And while that is a nice sentiment, it is over-simplifying something that quite honestly needs even more over simplification. Bear with me here please. Skin colour, like hair or clothes is the first thing we see whenever we interact with someone else. The operative word here is “see.” And that’s because I want to interrogate a fascinating thought that struck me recently.
Two weeks ago, I asked a few questions on Facebook about how blind and deaf people experience their dreams. I wanted to know if blind people actually “see” things in their dreams, or if they read braille to make sense of whatever it is they’re experiencing. I had several interesting responses, which made me wonder about the topic even more. Now one of my favourite ways of wasting time is to trawl through TED videos on Youtube. TED stands for “technology, education, design,” and the videos are generally 15-minute-long talks focussing on those three things.
TED is a rabbit hole of information, thought-provoking ideas and mind-expanding intelligence. Because I place a lot of value on learning new things, I simply love it. I didn’t find much on this issue there though. Instead, my hunt led me to an entertaining Youtuber by the name of Tommy Edison. He is blind and eager to educate us on the world of blind people. And one of the topics he tackled is how blind people experience race. It is honest and gave me a wonderful appreciation for the authenticity that’s to be found in simplicity. Enjoy this video and hopefully it will help you appreciate a fundamental truth about people … and even wish that the whole world was blind!
