It would be sad to be colorblind. As a person that sees life in all its vivid color it would be devastating to be colorblind. I am deeply grateful for all my senses. So when I hear someone say they are “colorblind” I am taken aback. Do you really not see red or green?

The proud progressive comment of “I am colorblind” is rarely used to refer to ones actual vision. It is used to describe how people see or pretend not to see race. Sight is our first cue when we meet someone. When one looks at another person and ignores their color they are ignoring them. Is being colorblind a way of saying everyone is the same? Which is ridiculous because no one is the same.

To be colorblind is to wipe away who we are. Not only visually but how we are treated in society. By not seeing “color” we ignore the plight and privilege of one group or another.

My new series “colorblind” is a visual commentary on how we wash away our responsibility to see color and therefore to not see the challenges different races experience in our society. Some things just can’t be wiped away just because we choose to be blind to them.

Embrace color.

Yvette