The Unmasking of the Colorblind Society
By: The Good Men Project
Tags: Police Brutality, Masculinity, Racism, Men, Social Justice

Sometimes you have to travel into the shadows and endure darkness to understand the truth. And those shadows can fall in even the brightest, most unexpected places.

On a unseasonably pleasant evening in 2016, I had stopped at a local grocery store after work. While I stood skimming some magazines under the fluorescent glare, a clerk approached. “I’m going to keep my eyes on you,” she said quietly and left.

I stood there, confused by her warning. I keep quiet and my mind own business while running errands after work. I’m no troublemaker, hardly worthy of special surveillance by the supermarket NSA.

I shook myself into motion and completed my shopping quickly. While walking toward checkout line, I ran into the clerk. This time she apologized. “Sorry, you resemble the guy that beat up my manager last week,” she explained.

I repeated her words, shook my head and walked away. In that instant, I fought back feelings of anger and alienation. I felt like a suspect. The clerk did not have to say anything about the real assailant’s appearance. The only thing I have in common with the guy who beat up the manager is skin color.

Americans take the dream of a colorblind society for granted, but it is not truly here. If you have any doubts, just pick up a newspaper. Recent storylines about police interacting with people of color are discouraging.

Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy playing in a Cleveland, Ohio park with a toy gun was shot by police officer Timothy Loehmann. A grand jury refused to indict Loehmann.

Eric Garner died in New York City after policeman Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold.

In Texas, video captured Officer Eric Casebolt pointing his gun at two unarmed teens at a community pool party. He cursed at several black teenagers and slammed a 15-year-old girl to the ground.

I walked away from my encounter with the clerk without physical harm, but the feeling of being an other, someone who was less trustworthy and subject to special scrutiny simply because my skin is dark, was very real.

High-profile incidents can galvanize high-profile action. Everyday discrimination is much more pernicious and difficult to fix.

Yet, we must not abandon all hope while striving toward equality. The activists of the Civil Rights Movement endured far greater obstacles. They made countless sacrifices and conquered Jim Crow.

Their work was a beginning, not an end.

The massacre of nine black parishioners in Columbia, South Carolina kicked America out its complacency for a time. Our reaction to that national tragedy reaffirmed important American values such as compassion, hope, charity, determination and resilience.

We are all the heirs of the American promise of freedom and are trustees to the dream of a colorblind society. We must not be deterred. It is a slow march, but it continues, and we can leave this country a little bit closer to the dream.

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The story was previously published on The Good Men Project.

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About Donavan Wilson

Donavan Wilson is a writer based in Washington, D.C. He has a strong interest in life and culture.You can follow him on Twitter.