Are Liberals Too Concerned with Being "Colorblind?"

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Democrats

The controversy surrounding ousted USDA official Shirley Sherrod brought the conversation about race back to the national forefront.

(Credit: CBS)

LAS VEGAS -- The nation - especially its liberals - celebrated the election of the first black president in 2008 and saw for the first time the prospect for a "colorblind" country.

If the debacle surrounding former Department of Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod proves anything, however, it's that race is still a very raw issue in the United States. But the left has tried to ignore the issue, liberal activists said Thursday at Netroots Nation, a progressive conference taking place this weekend in Las Vegas. And by doing so, those activists say, they are ceding the debate to the right -- and losing ground.

"To the center and the left, we have this colorbrind mantra," said Rich Benjamin, author of the book "Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America."

Liberals, Benjamin said, "see it as an ethical imperative -- they have racial fatigue."

Yet as minority communities grow, and the recession robs white Americans of opportunities for upward mobility, race increasingly infuses other issues, Benjamin said. Issues like taxes, public spending, health care, immigration have all become racial debates.

Liberals need to confront the issue head on as the Tea Party is doing now, said Tammy Johnson, director of strategic partnerships at the Applied Research Center, which focuses on racial justice.

"The Tea Party's having a conversation with voters and everyone else," she said. "When we change the subject to something other than race, we are essentially taking ourselves out of that conversation."

Furthermore, she said, "If you're colorbrind, you're also blind to the solutions we need."

Johnson's organization is taking actions such as trying to eradicate the use of the term "illegal" to describe undocumented immigrants.

Solutions, Johnson said, should also focus on systemic issues, rather than isolated incidents.

For instance, she said, Shirley Sherrod was fired from the USDA after an out-of-context video suggested she discriminated against white farmers. However, Johnson continued, there are larger issues pertaining to race within the USDA that reinstating Sherrod won't solve.

James Rucker, co-founder of the activist group ColorOfChange.org, said liberals must go more aggressively after actors on the right, such as Fox News personality Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart, the web publisher who posted the video of Sherrod.

"Actually fighing and beating these guys I think is part of what's necessary," he said.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by wmb1957 July 26, 2010 11:54 PM EDT: The left is obsessed with color.
Try to say that current immigration law needs strong enforcement instead of amnesty. You will be called racist.
Try to criticize anything Obama does, you will be called racist.

No, the left is not color blind at all.; Reply to this comment

by sukietawdry July 26, 2010 12:58 AM EDT

Are liberals too concerned with being colorblind?

No, I should think. Quite the opposite in fact. You can't claim to be colorblind on the one hand and support race-based preferences and group identity politics on the other.

Reply to this comment


by wmb1957 July 26, 2010 11:48 PM EDT: Agreed, I was looking for the bs button next to whats my take on this article.
The progressive left is anything but color blind.
So much so in fact, that according to testimony at the civil rights commission, they refuse to enforce civil rights law in a color neutral way demanded by law.


by bdb19460 July 25, 2010 11:04 PM EDT: Are you kidding?

Here's a test to see if you're really too concerned about being colorblind
(1) Are you OK with the government asking about your race on the census?
(2) Are you OK with the Federal courts requiring you to identify your race when considering you for jury duty?
(3) Are you OK with colleges inquiring about your race during admissions?
(4) Would you prefer to have a child adopted by a couple where both parents are the same race as the child, only one is the same race as the child, or neither is the same race as the child - all other factors being equal?

I would say that liberals don't complain nearly enough about 1, 2 and 3; I have lots of personal experience with liberals caring way too much about 4.

Liberals care too much about being colorblind? I'm waiting for even one liberal to prove it.; Reply to this comment


by cdreifuss July 25, 2010 7:20 AM EDT: Let's not confuse two distinct issues, racial discrimination and illegal immigration. The latter is entering the country by circumventing the law, hence the term illegal is correct and appropriate. It matters not if one is from a Latin American country, or from Canada, Great Britain, Germany or France. If one entered this country by avoiding the lawful way of doing so, one has entered illegally. It is a procedural term,not a racial term, as so many would like to make it.

Is it any surprise that the vast majority that enter this country from south of the border are Hispanic? No, of course not. If the majority of those coming across the Mexican border were Australian, we would say we have a problem with Australians entering the country illegally, not undocumented.

This is not a racial issue. It is a legal issue. Hence, the term illegal immigrant is correct and appropriate. I welcome all who have come to live and work in this country by doing it the right way. I will do everything in my power to help those who have because you have earned my respect. This is not a racial issue. It is an issue of law.; Reply to this comment


by lairdwilcox July 24, 2010 11:43 AM EDT: I think being truly colorblind about race is a good thing, especially if the government does it as well. For people to achieve and advance based entirely on their abilities, with no special preferences or "quotas" of one kind or another, no fudges, no points, no preferences, no ?disparity? fixes, special considerations and so on would lead to a system that clearly rewards merit instead of identity.

He (or she) who has the best scores, the best work record and the best experience wins the job -- and racial or ethnicity would and should not be a factor. That is being truly colorblind. The essential fairness of this approach is striking. It would eliminate all victims of discrimination rather than merely change if from one kind of discrimination to another. It would also eliminate much grumbling and protests from dissident elements who claim black favoritism and priviledge.

It would do something else as well, something equally valuable. It would demonstrate to the world that people who say Black or Brown people are unintelligent, unmotivated, and incompeten, and also inclined toward criminality and irresponsible behavior, that none of that is true. Put to the test, false beliefs fall by the wayside and this is what all liberals have been hoping for. It?s time they have their day and show the racial bigots how wrong they've been. The dawn of a wonderful new day awaits.

Regarding the Sherrod case, I think that whoever brought this entire issue up in the first place should have carefully investigated the full evidence before going public. It looks to me that he may have been snookered by some false or only partial evidence. Partisan political types can become victims of their own enthusiasm and wishful thinking. Put another way, conservatives can be pretty stupid sometimes. Were it true it would have been a great story. I find myself wondering if they weren't set up by someone. I seem to recall some other cases quite a bit like this one.; Reply to this comment


by blackUSAguy July 23, 2010 1:14 PM EDT: The Tea Party are nothing but normal Americans who are experencing hard econmic times. Thanks to GOP and Big Business downsizing job. The GOP have managed to channel the damage to the Democrats because they are in charge. Remember when companies and businesses were moving to forgien countries. But the GOP didn't say a word. Unions tried to intervene but the Republicans made the unions the enemy. The Tea Party are people who do not follow government policy and the politicians and what they are doing. So lobbyist come in and control the agenda. I don't feel sorry for these people. They were busy going to the sports games, watching tv but not watching who is interacting with the government of the past. So, here we are today, the rich is in charge and the Tea Party is angry at "other people" for taking their job which were suppose to be there if they lose their orginal job.; Reply to this comment


by heavynne July 23, 2010 12:00 PM EDT: Jrefo...

RobAla is right... do some research 1st before you call it propaganda. For many more years we will have these isolated groups like South African AWB and ZUMA anti white forces that are training now as we speak... Its real and very much out there.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-503544_162-20011432-1.html?assetTypeId=41&blogId=#ixzz0uWOMMt1p

It's funny you bring up a couple of racist black groups, but you can overlook the number of racist white groups who have thrived and survived for decades and nobody cares. These racist white groups have tripled since the Obama presidency. So if you want to get rid of racists period, that is good, but if you only feel the black racists should be dealt with, then you yourself are a racist. A lot of people don't care about racism because it's no threat to them (whites), but let two men, not a group of black men show up somewhere and whites feel threatened, then something needs to be done. White hate groups are everywhere and can even get permits to march. Until we condemn all racists, the problem of racism will never go away.; Reply to this comment

by barbaram99 July 23, 2010 10:41 AM EDT

colorblind..It the wrong term. Racism is the wrong term..There is one race- the human race..

Reply to this comment


by heavynne July 23, 2010 10:53 AM EDT: If only everyone believed that. That term is easier said than done.


by RAS08 July 23, 2010 10:40 AM EDT: Strange that the writer states the Tea Party is hitting the subject head on. I don't see t5hat they have a choice. Yet, says everyone else is avoiding the conversation... Wha?! Seems to me that this is all that the news has been lately. Not sure to whom she is refering.; Reply to this comment


by tsigili July 23, 2010 10:34 AM EDT: Of course they are.....because color is NOT what the problem is!

All of the issues that are referred to as "racsim" have nothing to do with skin color, whatsoever. They have everything to do, with "tribalism", or cultural differences. That is precisely why they don't go away.

It is BEHAVIORS, that cause people of one cultural group to reject another cultural group. It is not skin color.

When behaviors take on a more neutral cultural influence, then racism will disappear, and not until then.

"Racism" as we define it, actually occurs between peoples of identical skin color. That is a myth, that it is about skin color. It is NOT!

It is, and has always been, about cultural behavioral differences. It is more "I don't approve of how you dress", or "I don't approve of how your talk", or, "I don't approve of your activities".

Get over it! Recognize that one set of cultural behaviors, is absolutely going to be frowned upon by another cultural group, and if you want to become a part of that "other" group, at least while in their presence......you will have to behave according to THEIR accepted standards! If you don't....you will be rejected.

We need to stop calling it racism, because that is a MYTH!; Reply to this comment