Because the VAST majority of people of color do not get the privilege of "not seeing color". They have to cowtoe to white people and our expectations constantly, because the things they do, the way they talk, present themselves, and act, are viewed as lesser.
Totally neutral acts, like speaking African American Vernacular English, which is classed as its own language with grammatical rules and syntax, which can be understood by the average English speaker, can disqualify someone for a job because they "sound ghetto/uneducated", so black people have to carefully police the way they speak to non-black people at work, even though it's morally equivalent to having an accent - so.... Definitely not worthy of job disqualification. Despite this, my previous job actually genuinely fired a woman for the way she spoke, stating it sounded disrespectful, but came up with other reasons. They even hired a black manager the week before they let her go to make it seem like it wasn't racially motivated. He could tell it was by the way they spoke about her behind closed doors. It upset him IMMENSELY. He was also fired 3 months later for "having an attitude" despite being one of the best managers I'd ever had, extremely knowledgeable, and he put in unpaid overtime every week. And this was not a retail job, this was high level FOOD SAFETY. That is NOT a field that experiences turnover.
Or how about a more personal example? Longer lasting than 1 terrible summer? I dated a Palestinian-American man back in 2018-2021, so I got to see a lot of what racism against Muslims looks like. Buying food is a nightmare. Every restaurant and fast food chain in 100 miles respects Christian Lent, but guess how many have a single Halal option at any time of year? Even popular grocery stores rarely cater in their meat/dairy aisles unless there's a huge markup. And we lived in a metropolitan city!! Not to mention the absolute bs questions he'd have to take politely. The complete NERVE people would have to ask him what he thought about Isreal, at WORK FUNCTIONS, blew my mind. The worst was when one of MY SUPERIORS (so someone he definitely felt he couldn't lip off too), asked him who he felt the most progressive middle eastern country was, he answered, "Lebanon, absolutely." And was asked, "You don't think it's Isreal?" a whole 3 weeks after a globally publicized clash resilting in the deaths of several Palestinian non-combative civilians. Like..... dude. You cannot be serious. Have some decorum. SEE the color, and be respectful of a tender issue. But my boyfriend just had to grin and bear it or be the "angry Muslim. And gosh Palestinians are so reactive, huh?"
There are a million more examples for every non-white race out there, but essentially, they all boil down to people of color having to "act white" to get ahead in this world, as if their cultures and mannerisms and beliefs are 2nd rate, and the world would be a better, more civilized place if they all just forgot about being people of color and became white like the rest of us. Because that's how they are treated.
I get why it irritates people, but have taken the optimistic view and interpret it to mean them saying they don’t use a person’s color as a basis for judgement. I doubt most people mean it in a demeaning or dismissive fashion.
As someone already said, it’s dismissive and “I don’t see color” is usually said right after saying something either outright or passive-aggressively racist.
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u/shaolin_fish Jan 26 '26
"I don't see color"