“Color-Blind”* or Color-Brave? Two Views on Race & Kids

In the U.S., many children are raised to be "color-blind"* about race. Most adults were as well. This view, often meant to promote equality, suggests that we should ignore or overlook racial differences in an effort to treat everyone the same. Unfortunately, this perspective actually tends to perpetuate inequality by not acknowledging the real-world impact of race and racism. We can't fix what we won't acknowledge. 

Here, we share an evidence-based alternative to understanding U.S. society and shaping children's understanding of race. The color-brave** view embraces honest and open recognition of both similarities across race AND differences related to race and culture, and the impacts of racism on our lives.

"Color-blind"* ideology so dominates U.S. culture and systems that it takes a critical lens and some self-compassion to grow into being more and more color-brave. The “Color-Blind” or Color-Brave breakdown is a tool meant to help us all become the color-brave caregivers our kids and communities need. 

* We acknowledge concerns about the ableism inherent in the term “color-blind.” We use it here advisedly, with quotation marks, because it is used in the research literature much more often than terms like “color-evasive,” and is much more familiar to most people than any current alternative.

** The components of this “color-brave” view are supported by social science research (see citations below). The term “color-brave” has been used previously by others as a contrast to traditional “color-blind” ideology, most notably in Mellody Hobson’s great TED talk, “Color blind or color brave?”

Learn more about how to be a color-brave caregiver at embracerace.org/caregiver-framework.