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This Is What Happens When You Try to Explain Racism to Folks Who ‘Don’t See’ Race

Posted byBy Tanasia Kenney | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

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Writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch had a hard time getting her point across during a panel discussion on race, as her argument against “colorblindness” fell on deaf ears.

During a recent appearance on The Pledge, Hirsch questioned U.K. reality TV star Michelle Dewberry over her understanding of the ways racism and other vices affect people of color. Dewberry just wasn’t getting it, however, contending that she just doesn’t see race.

“When you say you don’t see racism Michelle, I wouldn’t expect you to see it,” Hirsch said. “Because it’s not your experience, I wouldn’t imagine you get othered regularly, I wouldn’t imagine that you carry an experience, the baggage, of being in a country that colonized on  a white supremacist ideologies.”

Contributor Carol Malone seemingly tried to discredit Hirsch’s argument by questioning her experiences with racism and how often she’s faced with it.

It’s “not overt racism,” Hirsch explained. “But its (daily) acts of othering. Microaggressions. Subtle prejudices that often comes from very well-meaning people who mean no harm.”

“So, therefore, it’s not racism,” Malone interjected. “If it’s well-intentioned, then it’s not racism.”

Watch the rest of their exchange above.

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