Colour Blind

I used to pride myself on being colour blind.

Many of my teams were diverse in colour.

I will share this memory to demonstrate just how colour blind I was.

One particular team was at a company dinner. One of the spouses asked me who the Asian woman was. I had to stop and think about who they were even talking about: What Asian woman?

I thought it was a good thing that I ignored the colour of their skin and only saw them for the amazing human beings they were.

Maybe this was what Martin Luther King Jr. meant when he said,

“Advocates for color blindness argue that persons should be judged not by their skin color but rather by "the content of their character." [1]

I have come to a clearer understanding though over the past few months.

My blindness was not so much about their skin colour, but to the impact the colour of their skin might have had on their daily lives. And how my own experience as a white woman will have been dramatically different.

So my goal is to increase my awareness of this when in conversation moving forward; to stay alive to the impact and the personal stories which each person will have and to encourage my clients to do the same.

Photo: Tammy Brimner/TLBVelo Photography