The ‘Colorblindness’ Trap
How a civil rights ideal got hijacked.
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The ‘Colorblindness’ Trap: How a Civil Rights Ideal Got Hijacked
Nikole Hannah-Jones is a staff writer at the magazine and is the creator of The 1619 Project. She also teaches race and journalism at Howard University.
Anthony K. Wutoh, the provost of Howard University, was sitting at his desk last July when his phone rang. It was the new dean of the College of Medicine, and she was worried. She had received a letter from a conservative law group called the Liberty Justice Center. The letter warned that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions, the school “must cease” any practices or policies that included a “racial component” and said it was notifying medical schools across the country that they must eliminate “racial discrimination” in their admissions. If Howard refused to comply, the letter threatened, the organization would sue.
Listen to this article, read by Janina Edwards
Wutoh told the dean to send him the letter and not to respond until she heard back from him. Hanging up, he sat there for a moment, still. Then he picked up the phone and called the university’s counsel: This could be a problem.
Like most university officials, Wutoh was not shocked in June when the most conservative Supreme Court in nearly a century cut affirmative action’s final thin thread. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the court invalidated race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Universities across the nation had been preparing for the ruling, trying both to assess potential liabilities and determine the best response.
But Howard is no ordinary university. Chartered by the federal government two years after the Civil War, Howard is one of about 100 historically Black colleges and universities, known as H.B.C.U.s. H.B.C.U. is an official government designation for institutions of higher learning founded from the time of slavery through the end of legal apartheid in the 1960s, mostly in the South. H.B.C.U.s were charged with educating the formerly enslaved and their descendants, who for most of this nation’s history were excluded from nearly all of its public and private colleges.
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Actually, Color Blindness Isn’t Racist
Why have today’s most celebrated intellectuals ignored the historical record to recast it as a reactionary idea? Coleman Hughes explains.
By Coleman Hughes
December 20, 2022
To our veteran subscribers—and to our many newcomers—welcome, again, to The Free Press (formerly Common Sense). We’re so excited you’re here, and we hope you learn as much from the essay below, by Free Press contributor Coleman Hughes , as we did.
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In a few months, the Supreme Court will strike down or reaffirm race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The anticipation surrounding the Court’s decision—in two separate cases pitting Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard and the University of North Carolina—has reignited the long-running national debate over color blindness .
The question is: should universities be permitted to discriminate on the basis of race? Should they be permitted to “see race”?
Not seeing race is the surest way, these days, to signal that you aren’t on the right side of this divide. Indeed, the term “color-blind” has become anathema to right-think, and if you live in elite institutions—universities, corporate America, the mainstream media—the quickest way to demonstrate that you just don’t get it is to say, “I don’t see color” or “I was taught to treat everyone the same.”
Once considered a progressive attitude, color blindness is now seen as backwards—a cheap surrender in the face of racism, at best; or a cover for deeply held racist beliefs, at worst.
But color blindness is neither racist nor backwards. Properly understood, it is the belief that we should strive to treat people without regard to race in our personal lives and in our public policy.
Though it has roots in the Enlightenment, the color-blind principle was really developed during the fight against slavery and refined during the fight against segregation. It was not until after the civil rights movement achieved its greatest victories that color blindness was abandoned by progressives, embraced by conservatives, and memory-holed by activist-scholars.
These activist-scholars have written a false history of color blindness meant to delegitimize it. According to this story, color blindness was not the motivating principle behind the antiracist activism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was, instead, an idea concocted after the civil rights movement by reactionaries who needed a way to oppose progressive policies without sounding racist.
Kimberlé Crenshaw has criticized the “color-blind view of civil rights” that she alleges “developed in the neoconservative ‘think tanks’ during the seventies.” George Lipsitz, a Black Studies professor at UC Santa Barbara, writes in Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines , which he co-edited with Crenshaw, that color blindness is part of a “long-standing historical whiteness protection program” associated with “indigenous dispossession, colonial conquest, slavery, segregation, and immigrant exclusion.”
Although this public-relations campaign has been remarkably successful, it bears no relation to the truth.
The earliest mentions of color blindness I am aware of come from Wendell Phillips, the President of the American Anti-Slavery Society and the man nicknamed “abolition’s golden trumpet.” In 1865, Phillips called for the creation of “a government color-blind,” by which he meant the total elimination of all laws that mentioned race. (Phillips was white, but it’s hard to see how his advocacy of color blindness could have been a Trojan Horse for white supremacy, as today’s anti-racist might frame things. Black contemporaries such as George Lewis Ruffin, America’s first black judge, described Phillips as “wholly color-blind and free from race prejudice.”)
In the decades that followed, the idea of color blindness propelled the fight against Jim Crow. Exhibit A: the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy vs. Ferguson , in which the Court—outrageously—ruled 7 to 1 that “separate-but-equal” was constitutional. The lone dissent in Plessy , the lone flicker of hope, which was written by Justice John Marshall Harlan, features the immortal sentence: “Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among its citizens.”
Decades later, when NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall was battling segregation in the courts, an aide recalled that he considered the Plessy dissent his “bible” and would read aloud from it when he needed inspiration. “Our constitution is color-blind,” his favorite sentence, became the “basic creed” of the NAACP.
Among the main goals of the civil rights movement was the elimination of laws and policies that used the category of race in any way. In fact, that was the first demand made by the original March on Washington movement of the 1940s (which successfully pressured Franklin Roosevelt to integrate the defense industry). It was also the first argument made by the NAACP in their Brown vs. Board appellate brief . To paint color blindness as a reactionary or racist idea—rather than a key goal of the Civil Rights Movement—requires ignoring the historical record.
Yet this is precisely what today’s most celebrated public intellectuals have done.
Ibram X. Kendi, MacArthur Genius and bestselling author of How to be an Anti-Racist , argues that “the most threatening racist movement is not the alt right’s unlikely drive for a White ethnostate but the regular American’s drive for a ‘race-neutral’ one.”
Critics of color blindness argue it lacks teeth in the fight against racism. If we are blind to race, they say, how can we see racism? Robin DiAngelo, in her hugely successful 2018 book White Fragility , sums up the color-blind strategy like this: “pretend that we don’t see race, and racism will end.” But this argument is no more than a cheap language trick. It’s true that we all see race. We can’t help it. What’s more, race can influence how we’re treated and how we treat others. In that sense, no one is truly color-blind.
But to interpret “color-blind” so literally is to misunderstand it—perhaps intentionally.
“Color-blind” is an expression like “warm-hearted”: it uses a physical metaphor to encapsulate an abstract idea. To describe a person as warm-hearted is not to say something about the temperature of that person’s heart, but about the kindness of his or her spirit. Similarly, to advocate for color blindness is not to pretend you don’t notice color. It is to endorse a principle: we should strive to treat people without regard to race, in our public policy and our private lives.
Embracing color blindness would mean an end to policies like race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
But wouldn’t gutting these policies have terrible consequences for people of color?
The question need not be posed hypothetically. California actually did ban affirmative action in its state-funded colleges in 1996. And this ban did not hurt students of color. It didn’t reduce college enrollment for black and Hispanic students; it simply re-shuffled them throughout both the University of California and Cal State systems. Many of them did end up at less prestigious schools, but those schools better matched their incoming academic credentials. That is a trade-off I’m comfortable with. There’s no reason to expect that a nationwide pivot away from race-based affirmative action would be any different.
What’s more, eliminating race-based policies does not mean eliminating all policies aimed at reducing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. It simply means that such policies should be executed on the basis of class, not race. Not only is class a better proxy for true disadvantage, but class-based policies also avoid the core problem with race-based ones: to discriminate in favor of some races, you must discriminate against others. This discrimination creates an endless cycle of racial grievance and resentment in every direction. Income-based policies—such as progressive taxation, earned-income tax credit, and need-based financial aid—tend to be more popular and less controversial than race-based policies, in part, because they do not penalize anyone for immutable, biological traits.
Pivoting toward color blindness would not only mean getting rid of bad policies. It would also mean embracing good ones. Take traffic cameras. A traffic cop’s decision-making could be contaminated by racial bias. But a camera that catches you speeding or running a red light cannot. You might, therefore, expect that everyone interested in reducing racism would support traffic cameras.
Yet progressives have criticized such cameras on the grounds that they don’t yield equal ticketing rates by race—that is, they don’t yield racial equality of outcome. This is where the principle of color blindness cuts through the confusion like a knife. True anti-racism means creating color-blind processes—processes where racial bias literally cannot enter—even if they do not yield results that mirror the census.
Though it’s a rather boutique example, blind orchestra auditions are another policy we should preserve. This example resonates with me not only because I’m a professional musician, but because it serves as a metaphor for the society we should want to create. Auditioning musicians behind a veil guarantees that racial and gender bias cannot contaminate the decision-making. Yet they have come under criticism by progressives who adopt a paint-by-numbers approach to racial justice: top orchestras, they say, must be 13 percent black because America is 13 percent black—even if we must discriminate against musicians of other races to achieve that outcome.
How is it that progressives abandoned color blindness?
In the early 1960s, there was an elite consensus that color blindness was the goal of race politics. Then the race riots of the late 1960s led politicians and corporations to perform an about-face. They began implementing race-based policies as a hasty and pragmatic response to the riots—much like governments and corporations did in response to the riots of 2020. Today, you can scarcely find a professor in an elite institution who would defend color blindness.
This is a grave mistake. Color blindness is the best principle with which to govern a multiracial democracy. It is the best way to lower the temperature of racial conflict in the long run. It is the best way to fight the kind of racism that really matters. And it is the best way to orient your own attitude toward this nefarious concept we call race. We abandon color blindness at our own peril.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this piece attributed a quote to Supreme Court Justice John Marshall. The correct justice is John Marshall Harlan.
One of the things we believe in at The Free Press is listening to all sides of an argument. Perhaps you agreed with Coleman’s view. Or maybe you didn’t. For another perspective on the subject of color blindness, check out this essay in The Atlantic by former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust.
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Color Blindness
At a glance: Color Blindness
Trouble telling the difference between colors
Color vision test
Special glasses and contacts, visual aids
What is color blindness?
If you have color blindness ( color vision deficiency ), it means you see colors differently than most people. Most of the time, color vision deficiency makes it hard to tell the difference between certain colors.
Usually, color vision deficiency runs in families. There’s no cure, but special glasses and contact lenses can help people see differences between colors. Most people who have color vision deficiency don’t have problems with everyday activities.
What are the types of color vision deficiency?
The most common type of color vision deficiency makes it hard to tell the difference between red and green. Another type makes blue and yellow look the same. In rare cases, people have complete color vision deficiency, which means they don’t see color at all.
What are the symptoms of color vision deficiency?
The main symptom of color vision deficiency is not seeing colors the way most people do. If you have color vision deficiency, you may have trouble seeing:
- The difference between colors
- How bright colors are
- Different shades of colors
Symptoms of color vision deficiency are often so mild that they’re hard to notice. That’s why many people with color vision deficiency don’t know they have it. And people usually adjust to differences in how they see color.
People with very serious cases of color vision deficiency might have other symptoms, too — like quick side-to-side eye movements (nystagmus) or sensitivity to light.
Am I at risk for color vision deficiency?
Men have a much higher risk than women for color vision deficiency. You’re also more likely to have color vision deficiency if you:
- Have a family history of color vision deficiency
- Have certain eye diseases
- Have certain health problems, like diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, or multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Take certain medicines
If you think you may have color vision deficiency, talk with your eye doctor about getting checked.
When to get your child’s eyes tested
It can be tricky to diagnose color vision deficiency in children. Kids who have color vision deficiency may try to hide it. But having color vision deficiency can make it hard to read from a chalkboard or do other activities, so get your child’s eyes tested if you’re concerned.
Get your child’s eyes tested if they have a family history of color vision deficiency or if they seem to be having trouble learning colors.
Ask your child’s eye doctor to test them. You also may be able to get your child’s eyes tested at school.
What causes color vision deficiency?
Most people who have color vision deficiency are born with it. This is because the most common types of color vision deficiency are genetic, meaning they’re passed down from parents.
Color vision deficiency can also happen because of an injury to the retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue in the back of the eye), the optic nerve (which connects the eye to the brain), or the brain itself. >Some examples of injuries that can lead to color vision deficiency are:
- Retinal detachment (when the retina is pulled away from its normal position at the back of the eye)
- Eye injuries caused by lasers
- Some kinds of brain tumors — especially ones that affect the optic nerve or put pressure on the brain
- Radiation treatments
Color vision may also get worse as you get older — often because of cataracts (cloudy areas in the lens of the eye).
Did you know?
Everyone sees color a little differently — including people who don’t have color vision deficiency
About 1 in 12 men have color vision deficiency
Most people with color vision deficiency are born with it, but sometimes it doesn’t show up until later in life
How can I find out if I have color deficiency?
Your eye doctor can usually use a simple test to tell you if you have color vision deficiency.
During the most common type of test, your eye doctor will show you a circle made of many different colored dots. The circle has a shape inside it that’s also made of dots — like a number, a letter, or a squiggly line. This shape is easy to see if you don’t have color vision deficiency, but people with color vision deficiency have a hard time seeing it.
What's the treatment for color vision deficiency?
There’s no cure for color vision deficiency that’s passed down in families (inherited), but most people adjust to it. Children with color vision deficiency may need help with some classroom activities, and adults with color vision deficiency may need accommodations to do jobs that rely on telling the difference between colors, like being a graphic designer.
If your color vision deficiency is happening because of another health problem, your doctor will treat the condition that’s causing the problem. If you’re taking a medicine that causes color vision deficiency, your doctor may adjust how much you take or suggest you switch to a different medicine.
If color vision deficiency is causing problems with everyday tasks, talk with your eye doctor about available options, like:
Glasses and contacts. Special contact lenses and eyeglasses may help people who have color vision deficiency tell the difference between colors. They work by increasing the contrast between colors so they’re easier to tell apart.
Visual aids. Apps let people take photos with a phone or tablet and then tap on part of the photo to find out what color it is.
What is the latest research on color vision deficiency?
Research studies suggest that gene therapies (treatments that change genes in a target location) are promising for a severe type of color vision deficiency .
Last updated: August 5, 2024
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Status of Minorities
Colorblindness in california, works cited.
Every country has some rules and legislation that provides its citizens with certain security and regulations that guarantee a normal life. However, the real situation appears to be quite the opposite from what should the government provide its population with.
In this respect, we can see cases of discrimination though it is claimed to have been fought in the same time when Martin Luther King delivered his speech about the necessity of being more tolerant and patient and not treating people of other races as minorities. The history made the United States of America a multinational state where different languages and religious beliefs are brought from all over the world to contribute to the overall image of the country and enrich its culture.
Time passed and people were still coming to the United States to find some appropriate conditions for their families, education for their children, and more advantageous job opportunities. However, the real situation happened to be not as bright and prosperous as people believed.
The Civil Rights Act was aimed at outlawing racial discrimination which still persists in the form of racial inequality.
Many people that live in the United States of America experience racial inequality regardless of the claims that this phenomenon was claimed to have been removed from the theory and practice. However, many people face difficulties related to their housing opportunities and educational problems. This does not mean that children of immigrants do not want to receive education – racial discrimination results in much more complicated issues such as lack of educational institutions on the territory of the neighborhoods inhabited by immigrants. Is not this inequality?
I believe that this can be considered the most vivid example of racial inequality when people are doomed to live in neighborhoods chosen for them on the bases of racial discrimination principles. As reported in the documentary series Unnatural Causes , the rate of uneducated children that experience violence or become witnesses of violence in the street is very high due to the neighborhood and inability of authorities to provide all people with appropriate living conditions making no exceptions.
Children are not educated, they lack self-esteem and self-confidence, and they have no plans for future. As experts explain about such children, they make plans concerning what to wear for their funerals instead of thinking about their graduation and more perspective outcomes (“Unnatural Causes” n.p.).
In other words, there is no chance for these children to become good loving parents for their own children as the rate of violence and other external factors are not encouraging at all; hence, people do not make plans to be ready for losses. The situation in society would not permit them to realize their plans to any degree.
Health is one of the most burning issues of the contemporary society. The global community makes attempts to consolidate people all over the world and fight the danger of fatal illnesses and viruses. However, the cases that take place in the racially marked neighborhoods of the united states of American such as “Richmond, California, a predominantly Black city in the San Francisco Bay Area” (“Unnatural Causes” n.p.) demonstrate lack of attempts to improve the health of the population.
Besides, it is unclear whether the authorities do nothing with the health of the population due to the race inequality or they have simply failed to provide certain areas with adequate health care services. In this respect, health policies and programs aimed at improvement of health care services provided to the population of another race and ethnicity than white non-Hispanics seem to have failed.
As reported in the documentary series Unnatural Causes , “Segregation and lack of access to jobs, nutritious foods, and safe, affordable housing” (n.p.) can be considered the major factor that contribute negatively to the overall situation with the health of people including residents that have been living in inappropriate neighborhoods for years and even decades and new-comers who experience the pressure of this negative environment.
Health of these people reduces their lives. The major reason for shorter life period of people from disadvantaged neighborhoods is the conditions that reduce their lives. People think about the lack of job opportunities, inappropriate health care services, and lack of educational institutions which causes constant stress and worsens their health.
Sociocultural factors
Though sociocultural issues can be considered the main aspect of the cultural diversity that can be used for benefit of the society and organizations, people often fail to understand this concept adequately and treat it in the same way they treat their own cultural cues. In this respect, sometimes people lack tolerance and patience to learn differences and comprehend the relations between cultural cues typical of one ethnic group and their actions in a certain setting.
When we do not understand something, we try either to learn it better to know how to treat it. At the same time, people may fail to express sufficient understanding; they can express animosity instead.
The situation in disadvantaged neighborhoods is difficult to change though people can make efforts such as performed by the people in the High Point in West Seattle where “Community members, local government and developers took a radical approach in rebuilding this neighborhood – using federal funding to create a mixed-income community with health as its focus” (“Unnatural Causes” n.p.).
In this respect, race matters only for those who got used to stereotypes and biases instead of establishment of new unbiased relations with other community members.
So, the definition of racism is instructive because it marks people of other colors of skin than white and other ethnicities than non-Hispanic as those considered victims of this phenomenon in society. However, any expression of preference or discrimination can be considered racism in contemporary society due to multiculturalism spread all over the globe.
Though California can be considered one of the most multicultural areas on the territory of the United States of America, it can also be treated as the place where people suffer from open discrimination regardless of political claims about tolerance and integrity.
Civil rights
People are discriminated due to their racial belonging in all parts of the world. This can be considered one of the burning issues of contemporary society with regard to a number of factors that contribute to the overall situation in every separate state and the global community in general.
The book Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California written by Daniel Martinez HoSang helps people to understand the problem of racial inequality to the extent of its essence because authorities try to make things look better than they appear to be in the real life. In this respect, people in California are treated with regard to their race taking into account numerous acts, policies, and programs aimed at development of clear and unbiased social relations.
All attempts to cover or even reduce the open demonstrations of discrimination were made in order to lull the vigilance of active opponents and make the country more attractive for immigrants who did not even think about possibility of being discriminated in one of the most democratic countries in the world. HoSang in his book about the history of race in California describes speeches and public claims made to reduce the opposition:
Bowron’s pronouncement echoed the calls of dozens of other civic unity, “human relations,” and “fair play” organizations across the state and around the country during this period; Los Angeles alone was home to twelve such organizations or coalitions by 1944. (ch. 1)
Every such pronouncement reduced the efforts of opposition and made people believe that everything would become better than it was and discrimination would not exist anymore. Though Brown has indicated that “we have no master race” (HoSang ch.1), there are still numerous instances of discrimination and racial inequality in California as well as all over the world.
Colorblindness
Such notions as colorblindness were supposed to make people free from discrimination and society free from biases and racial inequality. However, some people consider this to be one of the major obstacles on the way to multicultural society with specific needs and traditions. In this respect, the “…key signifiers [such as] rights, freedom, opportunity, progress, etc….” (HoSang ch.1) can be considered the greatest concepts of liberalism while people failed to implement those theoretical issues into practice.
Often people fail to perform the commitments they have toward their families and communities; the same happens when politicians say certain things and promise to do something whereas the real situation shows their real actions and intentions that stand behind those actions.
Though “Murphy warned of the ‘exaltation of any race, or nationality as superior to all others’,” (HoSang ch.1), people persist to do things claimed to be negative and inappropriate. This means that there is no color blindness in California as well as in every other area of the earth due to certain peculiar features of human being exercised toward each other.
Every person is free to choose what attitude to express toward other people regardless of their being opponents or members of the same community. This can be considered one of the drawbacks of the liberalism and its major keys.
With regard to all facts mentioned above it is necessary to ask if people are ready to enjoy the freedoms of liberalism that is supposed to ensure freedom though should not restrict people in their desires and beliefs. It is natural that some people can experience biases against representatives of other ethnic groups though this should not be the reason to deprive them of their democratic freedom to choose whom to make friends with.
Real motives of political decisions
The racial hierarchy of people in California is the main issue that should be solved. In spite of positive connotations of the language of the latest propositions made concerning the racial inequality policies, these acts are aimed at development and support of already flourishing racial discrimination typical of this area. Racial liberalism can be treated as an attempt to regulate the situation that has become obvious in California.
Though the concept of racial blindness is urgent for the population of California that suffers from disadvantaged position, the policies are aimed at stronger restriction of rights and freedoms of people so that they could not oppose the conditions and limitations imposed o them by authorities.
Thus, white supremacy can be still observed in terms of hierarchy of races in California. Every claim made against the racial inequality that is supposed to defend the rights of discriminated people can be potentially aimed at bringing racially supreme people to the top.
People all over the world suffer from hunger and diseases whereas the problem of discrimination that should have been solved many years ago is still urgent for population of one of the most liberal countries of the globe. In this respect, people claim that the racial inequality should be reduced and eliminated from the community. However, the actual claims made by politicians and other representatives of political and social power prove to be aimed at changing the racial hierarchy in California in negative sense.
Every person can become color blind in terms of racial biases and discrimination though people cannot be deprived of their liberal powers given to them by political regime of democracy that is known for freedoms and rights imposed on population. The categories of people that have to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods suffer from the liberties and freedoms because they do not have sufficient resources and power to fight the situation; so, their children have to breathe toxic air and go to schools full of violence.
Hosang, Daniel. Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010.
“Unnatural Causes.” California Newsreel , 2008. Web. http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/episode_descriptions.php?page=5
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IvyPanda. (2018, May 17). Racial Relations and Color Blindness. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racial-relations-and-color-blindness/
"Racial Relations and Color Blindness." IvyPanda , 17 May 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/racial-relations-and-color-blindness/.
IvyPanda . (2018) 'Racial Relations and Color Blindness'. 17 May.
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Bibliography
IvyPanda . "Racial Relations and Color Blindness." May 17, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racial-relations-and-color-blindness/.
Colorblindness
Color Blindness
Introduction
Despite technological advances, ongoing scientific investigations, improvements in health care, and new research techniques, causes and nature of genetic mutations remain understudied. “Genetic disorders comprise a vast galaxy of anomalous conditions and exert an extraordinary impact on the human population” (Wynbrandt & Ludman, 2008, p. iv). Color blindness is generally identified as one of congenital diseases though researchers distinguish other causes of this visual disorder (Krapp, 2002; Golden & Peterson, 2010; Wong, 2011; Montgomery, 2012).
Color blindness, daltonism, color vision defects, and color vision deficiency are terms used to define humans’ absent or diminished abilities to perceive and/or to distinguish various wavelengths of light (Wynbrandt & Ludman, 2008; Genetics Home Reference, 2006). John Dalton, an English scientist, who suffered from color blindness, first discovered and described his visual defects in his publication "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours” in the 18th century.
Although all patients with color blindness experience difficulties in seeing colors, their brightness, and shades, the clinical picture, severity, and manifestations of color vision deficiency vary depending on the pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease and conditions of the retina. The retina is a sensory layer of an external wall of eyes, “the interior surface of the back of the eyeball” (Wynbrandt & Ludman, 2008, p. 94). The retina contains wavelength receptors called rods and cones. Due to specific functions of rods and cones, people are able to perceive light and recognise colours and their shades.
Types of Color Blindness
A type of color vision deficiency depends on its causative aspect; thus, color blindness can be either inherited or acquired (Krapp, 2002; Golden & Peterson, 2010; Wong, 2011; Kohl et al., 2012; MedlinePlus, 2012; Montgomery, 2012). Color vision deficiency of hereditary nature is specific to both eyes of a patient while, being acquired, the disorder can afflict only cone cells of a single eye. Moreover, the severity of symptoms can vary in different eyes. The inherited pathologies of color vision generally occur at the birth and they do not change at all over time. The acquired color blindness can change or be aggravated throughout a long time owing to processes of ageing and comorbid illnesses. In accordance with findings of research on color vision deficiency, such diseases as diabetes, leukemia, Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal degeneration, liver diseases, chronic alcoholism, macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis, sickle cell anemia, Parkinson’s disease, and brain traumas can cause this disorder. Moreover, color vision defects can be triggered by industrial toxins and such medications as barbiturates, hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), some antibiotics, etc. (Krapp, 2002; MedlinePlus, 2012).
Types of Cones
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Ignoring racism won’t fix racism: A response to Robyn Blumner's misguided essay
Arguing for a color-blind society, the ceo of the center for inquiry ignored the realities of racism.
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In the August/September 2024 issue of Free Inquiry , Robyn Blumner , the CEO of the Center for Inquiry (which publishes the magazine), wrote an editorial called “ Secular Humanism and the Color-Blind Society ” in which she argues that Humanists can and should look beyond race in order to create a “color-blind society.” The piece is behind a paywall.
It contains so many problems, however, that I asked Bakari Chavanu , a co-founder of Black Humanists and Non-Believers of Sacramento , to write a response to it. His essay is below.
As a Black atheist, humanist, and leftist, I was deeply appalled and offended to read Robyn Blumner's piece. After years of grappling with racial discrimination and striving to comprehend how racism operates within white supremacy, I had thought that self-proclaimed humanists would grasp the fallacy of a "color-blind society."
The very concept is misguided. It seeks to erase the unique experiences and struggles of Black and other minority people under the guise of racial equality. It's also a concept that glosses over the systemic racism that is deeply entrenched in our society.
In her editorial, Blumner claims that the “identitarian Left” perpetuates racism and makes "skin color an essential qualification or disqualification for life's rewards." She doesn’t bother providing examples of this or citing any sources, but she insists it wasn’t always like this:
Color blindness used to be the aspiration of nearly everyone who supported the civil rights movement. It stood in stark contrast to the Black Panther and Nation of Islam approach to Black empowerment that was more segregationist, Black supremacist, and anti-White.
Interestingly, Blumner doesn’t acknowledge the historical context of these organizations and movements, which emerged as a response to legal racial segregation, white violence, lynching, police brutality, and systemic disenfranchisement of Black people.
For what it’s worth, the Ten-Point Program of the Black Panther Party does not espouse Black supremacy. While the Nation of Islam has preached the so-called inherent superiority of Black people over white people, it has never created policies and practices that marginalize white people. To put it another way, there is both historical and contemporary context for Black resistance to white racism and domination. You cannot transcend race when you don't acknowledge the historical (racist) harm to, violence against, and marginalization of Black people.
The two groups she mentions emphasize Black empowerment, cultural pride, and self-defense against systemic racism and violence against Black people. Those goals have never marginalized white people or brought about Black supremacy anywhere in the country, and those are not the goals for today’s Black left either. Reverse racism isn’t the bogeyman she makes it out to be. Yet Blumner, speaking as a humanist, argues that the biggest obstacles to a color-blind society and racial harmony are supposedly Black supremacy and neo-racism, not the history and culture of white supremacy and racialized capitalism.
The goals of the civil rights movement aimed to end racial segregation and discrimination while creating opportunities for access to education, housing, employment, political empowerment, and wealth accumulation. Integration only benefits marginalized groups if they consistently have access to the opportunities and resources that might empower them. And yes, that includes reparations for historical harm, theft of labor, and loss of generational wealth.
Yet Blumner writes that the racism of the past is simply not that big of a deal because most of us know better today:
Most White people in the United States these days are not racists. I say "these days," in 2024. You can point backward to a different reality. There are still racists of course, but in general we have excised that demon as we have sloughed off other old prejudices, such as that women shouldn't work outside the home or that LGBTQ people shouldn't legally marry each other. We have made stunning progress shifting all those attitudes within my lifetime—a cause for unbridled celebration especially among humanists, many of whom were at the forefront of these civil rights struggles.
She’s ignoring what’s happening right in front of our eyes. Even if most white people are not racist, racism permeates the actions of many of the most powerful people in the country.
How can anyone pretend that the current Republican presidential candidate and Republican policymakers nationwide are “color-blind”? They wage campaigns using “Critical Race Theory” and "wokeness" as dog whistles against Black and other marginalized groups, deeming certain ones as an impediment to their supposed values.
For all the progress that certain groups, including women and the LGBTQ community, have made when it comes to civil rights, the obstacles have almost always been created by the same kind of people who perpetuate racism today. That goes well beyond individual prejudice. It’s systemic . And that’s why addressing the problem requires a comprehensive understanding and dismantling of the structure upholding these disparities.
Blumner also targets Ibram X. Kendi , a prominent advocate of antiracist justice:
If you are not racially discriminatory toward White people, according to Ibram X. Kendi, a godparent of the identitarian Left, you are racist. "The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination,” Kendi wrote , in words that would be softened in a future edition after they became the subject of criticism. "The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” In other words, two wrongs do make a right. As practiced, that meant curriculums that favor works by Black people over White people are one way to achieve that goal; hiring quotas are another. Yet preferring one race over another, Kendi's explicit playbook, is the very definition of racism. Reverse racism is still racism, as [Dr. Martin Luther] King [Jr.] well understood and called out.
Kendi's assertion, found in his book How to Raise an Antiracist, that the "only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination" is rooted in the need to address systemic inequalities through proactive measures. Because of systemic discrimination, marginalized groups have faced historical disadvantages. If racism magically ended today, it wouldn’t make up for those vast, historic discrepancies. Antiracist discrimination , as Kendi describes it, involves implementing policies that actively favor marginalized groups with the aim to counterbalance past and present injustices by making structural changes and rectifying imbalances.
Why do what Blumner writes off as “reverse racism”? Because it’s a necessary step toward dismantling racial and economic injustice.
We cannot achieve equity while systemic barriers like unequal education, discriminatory housing, high incarceration rates, and class oppression persist. Without addressing these issues head-on and intentionally, a "color-blind society" remains superficial and unattainable.
One argument against that approach to equity is that some people have overcome those obstacles, and therefore, others should be able to do the same. In fact, Blumner raises the conservative banner that racism really isn’t an issue anymore because there are many Black people in positions of power:
There are still inequalities, and we should continue to work on those. How to do that best and most effectively, however, is not to double-down on the enfeebling notion that every Black person is a victim of a systemically racist society and under those circumstances their lot is to be oppressed and downtrodden. Especially because reality says differently. We have a current Black vice president, secretary of defense, ambassador to the United Nations, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and two U.S. Supreme Court justices. As these examples and thousands like them demonstrate, in today's America people can largely succeed irrespective of their race.
We may have another Black president very soon, too, but none of that overrides the existence of systemic racism. Pointing to a few successful people doesn’t mean others with a similar racial background have no obstacles in their path.
Also, Clarence Thomas ?! A Black Supreme Court justice who perpetuates white supremacy through his rulings while also pulling away the bootstraps that may help other minorities isn’t something to celebrate . (Similarly, the ascendance of Amy Coney Barrett wasn’t a win for feminists, given her positions on abortion rights and bodily autonomy.)
Despite the gains many Black people have made and are making in this country, the unemployment rate for Black people is consistently higher than for white Americans. A study from the RAND Corporation reveals that, in 2021, “an estimated 64% of unemployed men have been arrested and approximately 46% of unemployed men have been convicted of a crime by age 35.” Housing discrimination remains an issue as well, with studies showing significant Black-White response gaps from landlords, blocking Black families out of neighborhoods with high-quality schools . Even in education, disparities exist. While 88% of Black or African-American adults have a high school diploma, this is still lower than the 90% national average, another study reported . As of 2022, the median wealth of Black families was $44,890 compared to $285,000 for white families. These disparities reflect the ongoing impact of structural racism in wealth accumulation. The fact is that far too many Black people are denied access to resources and opportunities afforded to white people.
Also, consider the historic practice of redlining , where banks and insurers historically denied loans and insurance to residents in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The Joint Center for Housing reports that this practice has led to long-term economic disadvantages for these communities, limiting access to home ownership and wealth accumulation. Even today, the effects linger, with Black families often facing higher interest rates and fewer opportunities for property investment compared to their white counterparts.
None of this will change unless we take proactive steps to fix it.
Additionally, the criminal justice system disproportionately impacts Black Americans, leading to higher rates of incarceration and more barriers to reentry. One Pew Research Center survey reported that a staggering 79% of Black adults had personally experienced discrimination because of their race or ethnicity. A different study found that over 50% of Black Americans experienced discrimination in police encounters specifically.
Racist conservative ideology seeks to use the focus on a "color-blind society" to cloak racial disparities, making it harder to expose racial injustices and forms of discrimination. Aspirations of a society where the color of someone’s skin is ignored do not get us to the goals of economic justice and dismantling racism. True equity requires systemic change, not just individual achievements.
Affirmative action is one of the most potent tools to fix that problem, but Blumner assures us that Black people don’t really want it:
Such stark reverse discrimination of the Kendi variety is certain to stoke racial and ethnic resentments. And even Black Americans reject that kind of intervention. A Gallup poll from Fall 2023 found that nearly seven in ten Americans thought the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling curtailing affirmative action in college admissions was "mostly a good thing,” including 52 percent of Black Americans . Why? Because to people of goodwill, admitting people to elite universities based largely on one's race puts an unfortunate asterisk on the academic careers of those admitted through an unfair process. It harms the very people it purports to help.
Blumner didn’t mention that, among Black adults (the people who may have benefitted from those policies in the past and who may have a stronger understanding of the gains of the Civil Rights movement), only 33% supported the Supreme Court decision . It also depends on how the question is asked. A Pew Research Center survey from 2023 that didn’t revolve around the Supreme Court’s decision found that, while 47% of Black Americans supported the use of race and ethnicity in the admissions process for selective colleges, only 29% of them opposed it. (Another 24% were not sure.)
It’s also worth mentioning that banning “race/ethnicity in admission decisions,” as the Gallup survey asked, might sound good to people who aren’t as well-versed in the consequences of that decision. (Similarly, returning abortion rights to the states might sound good to many Americans, but people who understand the impact are overwhelmingly opposed to it.)
That Gallup poll also ignores the fact that race wasn't the main factor for admitting Black students into elite universities under affirmative action. They did not just get admitted because they were Black; those colleges considered various factors beyond test scores, including race, which helped level the playing field. The idea that it somehow diminishes minority students' achievements misses the point. It overlooks the complex nature of merit and the systemic hurdles these policies aim to tackle. High-achieving but disadvantaged Black students graduate from less-resourced schools but nevertheless have the academic skills and commitment to excel in elite universities. In such cases, universities take a holistic approach to the admissions processes that consider factors beyond standardized test scores. It’s a win-win because school diversity enriches everyone's learning and better prepares all students for the future.
This is why affirmative action aligns with Kendi's perspective, which is that it can deliberately create opportunities for historically marginalized groups to counteract systemic disadvantages. However, this responsibility shouldn't fall solely on elite universities, which have historically contributed to systemic racism and created barriers for Black and economically disadvantaged students. We should focus on adequately funding and resourcing historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to offer high-quality education to these communities, reducing the dependence on elite institutions. Even better, we should aim to provide affordable or free higher education for everyone, eliminating financial barriers altogether.
Later in her piece, Blumner cites a passage from Coleman Hughes ’ book The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America to justify her belief that racism is no longer a huge problem:
One interesting poll Hughes cites is a 2013 Gallup survey asking Blacks in the United States the following question: "On the average, blacks have worse jobs, income, and housing than whites. Do you think this is mostly due to discrimination against blacks, or is it mostly due to something else?" Fully 60 percent of Blacks answered "something else" meaning a solid majority did not think racism was the primary cause of disparities in life outcomes, contrary to the identitarian Left's insistence.
That framing suggests only two explanations for this reality: (1) racism or (2) something else. However, "something else" can still involve racism! Just because people aren't overtly racist—like wearing white hoods or using racial slurs—doesn't mean the effects of systemic racism can be dismissed. Assuming that "something else" isn't racist implies it's an inherent issue, like suggesting Black people haven't taken personal responsibility or lack the work ethic and cultural values needed to succeed. These beliefs only serve to perpetuate systemic racism.
Also, from an anti-racist and anti-sexist perspective, there’s nothing wrong with identity-based politics. Everything can be identity-based, depending on who it affects. Hell, economic policies that benefit the wealthy are just identity politics for rich people. So what’s wrong with promoting policies centered around making society better for people who have faced obstacles due specifically to their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, or nationality?
Dismantling social, economic, and political injustice requires a consistent critique of how racialized capitalism and sexism can marginalize people because of their racial, gender, and class identities.
Blumner doesn’t want to do that work. Instead, she argues:
You don’t bring a diversity of people together by dividing them by skin color or making skin color an essential qualification for disqualification for life’s rewards. You bring them together by making racial distinctions as irrelevant as humanly possible — which is what color blindness means. It does not mean we are blind to skin color. It means our best to treat people equally without regard to it.
Ignoring racism won’t fix racism.
We don’t need to adopt color-blindness. We must acknowledge intersectionality, which values diverse experiences and identities and fosters empathy and understanding. By respecting these differences, we can build a fair society where everyone is valued without erasing what makes us unique.
Secular humanism should celebrate diversity and advocate for social, economic, and political justice. Instead of ignoring systemic disparities and injustices, it should highlight them and work to eliminate them. Our goal should be a society that values and respects our differences, acknowledges past and present injustices, and actively pursues equality and justice for all.
Humanism should amplify voices that have been historically marginalized and silenced–voices that challenge systems of oppression that persist today. As humanists, we advocate for social justice and equality for all. This is the humanism I believe in and promote.
Bakari Chavanu is a co-founder of Black Humanists and Non-Believers of Sacramento. He’s also a web designer and media content producer.
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| Being colorblind is fine ... IF (and that's an "if" the size of Lake Erie!) there is genuine equity and justice for EVERYONE. The stupid, blunt fact is that for people of color, we're nowhere near that, and there are too many law enforcement officers out there who are far more interested in protecting and serving themselves than they are in genuinely serving the citizens of their community. I've heard so many stories of this kind that the names start to blur together, but the color of their skin remains a constant reminder of a problem that jerks like Blumner want to ignore or sweep under the rug for whatever reason. I've lived in a mixed neighborhood for the last 15 years, and I like it. I have great neighbors on either side of me and I'm glad of it ... and I wonder and sometimes worry if one of them might find themselves subject to such treatment. I don't think I could keep quiet if it did.
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Watch CBS News Former NFL star Michael Oher, inspiration for "The Blind Side," claims Tuohy family never adopted himBy Khristopher J. Brooks Edited By Aimee Picchi , Anne Marie Lee Updated on: August 15, 2023 / 12:06 PM EDT / MoneyWatch Michael Oher, the former NFL offensive lineman and inspiration for the 2009 box office success "The Blind Side," told a Tennessee judge that contrary to the film version of his life he was never adopted by the Tuohy family , and alleged that the family earned millions from the story. Oher, 37, has petitioned a Shelby County judge to revoke the conservatorship from the Tuohys, arguing that he's old enough to handle his own business affairs. The Tuohys "have falsely and publicly represented themselves as the adoptive parents of Michael," the petition claims. In "The Blind Side," Leigh Anne Tuohy was portrayed by Sandra Bullock, while Sean Tuohy was played by Tim McGraw. "Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conversators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control," the petition alleges. Sean Tuohy said Tuesday that he learned about Oher's allegations when his friend sent him an article about it. The conservatorship in question, Tuohy said, had nothing to do with the movie but was meant to help Oher as he got recruited to play college football. "They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family," Tuohy said, adding that because Oher was 18 at the time, the conservatorship was a way to make that happen legally since he was too old to be legally adopted. "...We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn't adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court." If Oher wants to end the conservatorship now, Tuohy said that he would "of course" be willing to end it. He also said that there has been a growing distance between Oher and the family over the past year and a half.  Legally blind-sided?Oher claimed in court documents that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy convinced him to sign conservatorship documents in 2004 by falsely telling him that the legal action was "for all intents and purposes, an adoption." Court documents state that Oher signed the documents at 18 after being a foster child for years. The conservatorship has allowed the Tuhoys to financially benefit from Oher's image and likeness, he alleges in the petition, and "reap millions of dollars" off of the Oscar-nominated movie about Oher, while he "received nothing." Steve Farese, a lawyer for the Tuohys, told the Associated Press that they will file an answer to the allegations in court but he declined to comment further. He was among three attorneys who served on behalf of the Tuohys on Monday. Oher was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Mississippi. He played five seasons for the Baltimore Ravens then another eight NFL seasons, including 2014, when he started 11 games for the Tennessee Titans. Oher finished his career after two years with the Carolina Panthers.  Oher's 14-page petition details his entering the foster care system at 11. During high school, Oher was homeless but lived with friends and classmates including Sean Tuohy, Jr. — the son of Sean and Leigh Anne. "Almost immediately after Michael moved in, the Tuohys presented him with what he understood to be legal papers that were a necessary step in the adoption process," the petition alleges. "Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign." The petition also claims that Oher didn't truly know what he had signed. "Michael was falsely advised by the Tuohys that because he was over the age of eighteen, that the legal action to adopt Michael would have to be called 'conservatorship' but it was, for all intents and purposes, an adoption," the petition claims. Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. He previously worked as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald, Newsday and the Florida Times-Union. His reporting primarily focuses on the U.S. housing market, the business of sports and bankruptcy. More from CBS News Judge in Trump "hush money" case once again rejects recusal effort Wally Amos, founder of "Famous Amos" cookies, dies at 88 Here's what to know about an alleged hack of Social Security numbers Feds warn against some baby loungers, cradle swings amid 6 deathsThe 8 Best Hunting Blinds For Ultimate Concealment In The FieldThese portable ground blinds keep you hidden and provide shelter  Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? Ground blinds are essential for hunters to remain hidden and blend in with their surroundings, giving them an advantage while hunting wild game. They are mobile, easy to erect and take down, and many hunters find ground blinds their preferred concealment when permanent stands are not feasible. Many brands offer quality ground blinds, and you can find selections in any price range. Adding one to your gear arsenal for an ideal hunting situation will help your odds. The blinds we've opted for are some of our personal favorites. Once you know your budget, you will need to consider the features essential in your blind selection. Best Hunting Blinds
The Expert: I’m an avid hunter and member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), specializing in hunting gear testing. My reviews have appeared in various print and digital outlets, including Field & Stream , Woman Hunter Magazine , and Wide Open Spaces . I’ve spent many hours in a ground blind in the middle of the Florida palmettos waiting out stubborn Oceolas, in the swampy hardwood bottoms of Alabama for a sounder of hogs to come into a bait pile, and on the side of AG fields in Kansas braving spitting snow and harrowing winds in pursuit of a Kansas bruiser whitetail. I know ground blinds, the good, the bad, and the ugly. What to Consider in a Hunting BlindLook for blinds with a silent window system, fabrics that repel water and UV light, black-out interior materials to hide silhouettes, and easy-to-use entrance/exit options. Additional features include mesh pockets, pouches, material shelves, top ventilation, and kick-outs for storage. Exterior colors range from solids to various camouflage options. The blinds featured here mainly belong to the hub style, except for the flexible spring steel styles I included. In general, when buying a hunting blind, several factors must be considered to ensure you get the most out of your purchase. The main things to consider are size, weight, and capacity. The size of the blind you require will depend on several factors, but the most critical factor is how much space you need inside. For example, you will need more interior room for archery hunting versus gun hunting. The interior width needs to be deep enough to allow you to come to full draw with a bow, whereas with a gun, the barrel can extend out of the window. The window configuration is also essential; some blinds offer a 90-degree front window or a smaller one with vertical corner windows. The height of the windows needs to be considered, but an adjustable-height blind chair can make sure you’re seated at the correct height. The floor area needs to be roomy enough for a chair, possibly a shooting and video tripod, and enough room for your backpack while allowing you sufficient room to take advantage of all shooting windows. There will be times when you need to bring a blind into the woods for each hunt, especially if you're on public land or a spot that doesn't let you leave the blind overnight. Choose a blind that's light- to medium weight and comes with a bag or other sound carrying system. If your situation allows you to set up blinds and leave them for an extended time, then weight may not be a factor. Remember, the thicker the material and the larger the blind, the heavier it will be. The options listed below include blinds in various weights and sizes. If you usually hunt alone, the blind size may not be as important. However, if you plan on hunting with others, having extra space is crucial. The blind size will determine how many people can hunt comfortably inside. Each person will need space for a chair, backpack, weapon, and gear, so having enough room is essential. While blinds for one to two hunters are common, options can now accommodate up to four or five people. Color/CamouflageFor the best concealment, you will want to choose a blind that will blend into the terrain of the area you will be hunting. Most blinds come with ties or loops where you can brush in your hunting blind to help conceal it. Many manufacturers are starting to make solid color blinds in muted or earth tones. Keep in mind what time of the season you are hunting. What color will the trees and brush be? The early season will be greener, and the late season will be more bare with winter grasses and brush. I included a bale blind in this lineup for those areas where you might be hunting hay fields or corn fields. It is often not feasible to own a blind of every color, so choose wisely. How We Selected The Best Hunting Blinds I have many years of experience hunting from ground blinds, including in several of the picks in this roundup. To supplement my own impressions of these picks, I researched product reviews, ratings, and rankings when choosing these eight popular blinds. I considered all of this information along with the opinions of other guides and professional hunters. I included a variety of brands and styles, such as hub-style and spring-steel style. I didn't include the fiberglass pole-in-pocket style, which is similar to the structure you find in camping tents. I found that, over time, the fiberglass poles splinter under pressure and break. There is no way to repair this in the field, and I've personally ruined some hunts because of it. On my many hunting adventures, I have hunted numerous brands and styles of blinds in various types of weather and terrain. I've tested many, from hunting spring turkeys in the palmettos of South Florida to late-season muzzleloader hunting in Iowa, hog hunting Alabama swamps at night, and deer hunting in windy Northwest Kansas. With that said, the following blinds topped those of all that I evaluated and reviewed. Barronett Blinds Ox-5 Hunting Blind The Barronett Blinds Ox-5 is a Cadillac in the blind class. It is the largest blind in this group and a favorite among hunters looking for large capacity. I found this blind the perfect solution when I hunted with a youth hunter, a parent, and a photographer on a youth hunt. The blind offered plenty of room for several chairs, backpacks, and two tripods: a camera tripod and a shooting tripod. The Oxhide Fabric incorporates two layers of high quality, soft, quiet, no-shine 300D polyester fabric with a Backwoods Camo exterior pattern and a black-out interior for concealment. The silent slide windows are fully adjustable to any width quickly and silently. The window configuration offers a Panoramic view—the windows open from the center, allowing perfect height adjustability of the window for the hunter. The entrance is a D-shaped zippered door with plenty of clearance for walking through with a backpack and gear. The Ox-5 comes with a carry bag with backpack-style straps. The only caveat of this blind is that it’s made from thickest materials of those considered here, therefore it is the heaviest in its class. I would consider this blind to place before my hunt, stake down, and leave out for several days or weeks. It’s just not a great option if you need something more mobile.
Primos Hunting Double Bull SurroundView Blind 300 The Primos Double Bull SurroundView Blind was the original see-through blind introduced on the market. The technology is so popular that other brands are now following suit. The technology offers see-through walls for viewing capability while keeping the hunter concealed with the one-way screen. The SurroundView has two front view windows offering a 180 degree full front view with adjustable silent-slide window closures, ideal for gun and archery hunting in pursuit of any game animal. I used the SurroundView Blind on several hog hunts in Alabama and a turkey hunt in Florida, and it worked well in both regions. The 300-degree view makes this blind my favorite one for turkey hunting when a blind is needed. A built-in visor allows maximum visibility when the sun beams into the blind. The grand view offers the advantage of seeing the approaching turkey from far off—no worries about getting busted by your silhouette with the customizable black-out curtain. The view allowed me to watch a tom on the roost fly down and strut into my decoy setup without any blind spots. The only con is that the robust hub system and thicker window material make the blind a little cumbersome to fold down and pack out; it took me twice as long to take down and pack away as with other similar hub-style blinds.
Ameristep Pro Series Thermal Hub Blind During those low- to sub-zero temperatures when it's vital to stay in the stand during peak deer movement, AmeriFirst has the solution. The Pro Series Thermal Blind comes in Mossy Oak Elements. It is constructed of heavy-duty welded 300-denier quilted fabric backing that adds insulation for the protection a hunter needs from frigid weather. The black ShadowGuard interior and extended depth footprint add superior concealment. The blind’s 12 large windows are silent-slide windows with mesh and are easy to adjust. I found myself sitting in this blind on a late-season muzzleloader hunt in Iowa during a mini blizzard. Snow was blowing sideways, but the wind was not blowing through the blind. I closed most windows with the pull cord system to keep the snow from blowing in. It blocked the wind well, and the blind held up under the weight of the snow and the wind. The full-access walk-through door offers effortless entry and exit with a backpack, crossbows, tripods, and any other gear necessary. This blind includes a carry bag with backpack straps, cam buckle tie-downs, a carabiner, and ground stakes.
Rhino Blinds R150 Three-Person Hunting Ground Blind The Rhino Blind R150 is a hunter's favorite in features and price. The TripleBond 150-denier polyester Realtree Edge material resists fading. The aluminum hubs with fiberglass limb system allows this blind to be among the lightest full-size picks in this lineup. The windows and doors feature a silent hook and loop system, resulting in a zipper-free door entry. Included are a carry bag, stakes, and tie-down ropes. I don't own this blind, but I hunted out of one when turkey hunting with an outfitter in North Carolina. I remember the outfitter mentioning that it was the best quality economy blind he had ever purchased, and he had several of them on his land. I liked the zipper-free door entry; it made it very easy to get in and out of the blind.
Primal Treestands Wraith 270 Deluxe Blind The four-sided Wraith 270 Deluxe Blind has a 270-degree see-through view that spans the entire length and width of the three windows. The Wrath 270 Deluxe was the perfect blind for an all-day sit on the edge of a cut AG field in Kansas during the rut. The zipper for the exit door was a bit tight and stiff to work with, but I was in the blind from sun-up to sundown, so I didn't have to work with it much. The blind was comfortable, offering a great field of view for my hunt. The only thing missing were gear pockets. The windows have a silent slide system for easy and quiet customizable window height on the full-length horizontal opening windows. The heavyweight 300D fabric has a black-out interior for concealment. Included with the blind are a backpack-style carrying case, stakes, and tie-downs.
Guide Gear Spring Steel Hay Bale Ground Blind This blind is ideal for open fields or hay field hunting with no brush required because it mimics a hay bale. I used this blind on a field edge on a public land hunt in Tarkio, Missouri, and I may have let the price overshadow my first opinion of it. The Hay Bale blind is a great option for the money and ideal for hay field hunting. I was crossbow hunting by myself in the blind, and the interior had more room than I expected. There was plenty of room for my gear, and when I left the blind at night, its economical price let me sleep at ease, not fretting a case of theft. The blind is made with 150-denier polyester with a camouflage exterior and a black-out interior with exterior brush loops for additional concealment. The spring steel makes this blind fast and easy to place. Included are several fiberglass dowels for side and roof support. I am not a fan of the fiberglass dowels because, over time, they splinter and break. The 24-inch high by 44-inch wide side windows are perfect for crossbows, compound bow, or gun hunting. An oversized zippered door on the end makes entry and exit easy, even with a bulky backpack and other gear. Included are a carry bag, four tie-down ropes, and 10 stakes.
Ameristep Distorter Ground Blind The unique design of the Distorter allows it to blend naturally in the woods based on its silhouette. The 300-denier fabric shell has a black-out interior, a Mossy Oak Break-up Camouflage exterior, and a 3D leafy trim attached to the frame seams for additional concealment. The spacious interior makes it a photographer’s dream, with three kick-outs allowing extra space for a tripod, chair legs, and foot room while stowing gear bags out of the way. There is also mesh shelving to keep additional lenses and equipment organized and out of the way. Two roof kick-outs with mesh windows allow for standing shots or additional ventilation on warmer days. The solid hinged doors make ingress and egress straightforward and easy, even with bulky backpacks. There are 15 windows of various heights and shapes to assist a hunter or photographer in capturing every shot opportunity. I used this blind in NW Kansas on a pinch point transitioning between two AG fields. These were all-day sits, so the ample interior room was welcomed. This blind was the first I have ever used with so many kick-outs to store gear. The clear floor room came in handy when glassing from one field off my rear left shoulder and the other just the opposite. I also liked the full panel easy access entry/exit door. The Distorter blind's window configuration is ideal for archery and firearms, both standing and seated. The package includes a wrap-style carrying case that can be used as a mesh pocketed storage system on the inside attached to hook-and-loop hangers.
Game Winner SS Pop Up Blind This blind made the list for several reasons: it is less than 10 pounds, folds down to 2-feet wide by 3-inches high, stows away in a small compact backpack-style case, and is economical at about $80. Every hunter's gear arsenal needs a quick and easy blind for those situations where a heavier, more expensive one is not ideal. This blind is perfect for the traveling hunter or a public land hunt because it is incredibly mobile and lightweight. If you can leave the blind erect and overnight on public land and it gets stolen, you won't lose a significant investment. A hunter can even travel by airline with this blind going to a destination hunting location. The rugged spring steel frame allows for easy setup and take-down. Six zippered windows with mesh give the hunter a 270-degree view. A large door allows ample room for getting in and out of the blind with a backpack and weapon. The exterior is Realtree Xtra, with a black interior for concealment. There are not a lot of frills; it's just a suitable blind at a reasonable price that can be taken anywhere.
Q+A with Hunting Gear Expert Nancy Jo Adams What is the most important feature you look for in a blind? Personally, I need a blind that won’t fade with long-term exposure to direct sunlight. I primarily hunt private land, which comes with a few perks, including the option to place a blind and leave it out all season. I have owned several name-brand premium blinds that generally worked well, but faded horribly after just a few weeks. Once that happened, they stuck out like a sore thumb, rendering them useless. Given that, I always look for blinds made from heavier, UV-protected brush fabric, even if it adds heft or makes the blind more expensive. I also keep a can of Atsko UV Killer spray handy to help keep my blinds from fading. Are there any blind features that I should avoid? When blinds fail, hunters most frequently complain about broken poles or hubs, bad window systems, and window configurations. Since upgrading from fiberglass and elastic bungee blinds to a collapsible “hub” blind, I’ve never broken a pole. I’d also avoid blinds that use velcro to keep their windows closed rather than some sort of “silent” zipper system. Are there any accessories I should buy to use with my blind? First, if your blind comes with tie-downs, I recommend subbing them out for tent stakes , which are easier to set up and remove, while providing more security. An adjustable blind chair , preferably with a swivel base, will help you find your aim in any condition. I also suggest picking up a hunting tripod for gun or crossbow hunting, as your blind will not provide a stable edge where you can rest your weapon. Nancy Jo Adams, owner of Life in Camo Media, LLC ( lifeincamo.com ), a member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), and an avid hunter who puts gear to the test year-round on numerous hunts across the US and South Africa as well as assists new entrepreneurs and brands with prototype product testing, has contributed hunting content to various print and digital media outlets such as Woman Hunter Magazine , Hunting Life Magazine , Hawke Life, Stone Road Media, and Velocity Outdoor, to name a few. When she is not at her full-time job at an engineering firm, Nancy Jo can be found on a hunt, scouting for an upcoming hunt, assisting in land management, writing remotely, or in the field working on product photos.  .css-cuqpxl:before{padding-right:0.3125rem;content:'//';display:inline;} Hunting Gear .css-xtujxj:before{padding-left:0.3125rem;content:'//';display:inline;} The 8 Best Trail Cams for Capturing Nature  12 Best Hunting Jackets to Keep You Warm and Dry  Best Hunting Pants of 2023  7 Best Spotting Scopes for Hunters and Stargazers  10 Hunting Backpacks for Every Situation  The 8 Best Range Finders for Hunters and Golfers  6 Best Ladder Stands  The 7 Best Kayaks for Fishing and Floating  Best Turkey Vests for Every Kind of Hunter  The Best Pieces of Turkey Hunting Gear  Where to Buy Pedro Pascal's 'The Last of Us' Boots |
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Five Takeaways From Nikole Hannah-Jones's Essay on the 'Colorblindness' Trap How a 50-year campaign has undermined the progress of the civil rights movement. Share full article
1 Color blindness is one of them. Affecting 7% of the male population, and .4% of the female population in the US, color blindness is a sex-linked genetic disorder where the cone cells which are responsible for color, are developed incorrectly. 2 This results in the inability or lessened ability to see color, or perceive color differences while under normal lighting (Genetics Home Reference 2008).
Despite the pervasiveness of this color-blind approach to race relations, new evidence from psychological research has called its supposed benefits into question. We document the practice and implications of color blindness in a wide range of contexts: interpersonal, educational, organizational, legal, and societal.
But at a carefully chosen venue — the Conrad Hilton in Chicago — in front of a well-heeled white audience unlikely to spout racist rhetoric, Goldwater savvily evoked the rhetoric of the civil ...
For another perspective on the subject of color blindness, check out this essay in The Atlantic by former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust. If you think we all benefit from more good-faith debates about important subjects, support The Free Press by becoming a subscriber today: Subscribe now. May 19, 2021. Like;
If you have color blindness ( color vision deficiency ), it means you see colors differently than most people. Most of the time, color vision deficiency makes it hard to tell the difference between certain colors. Usually, color vision deficiency runs in families. There's no cure, but special glasses and contact lenses can help people see ...
Check your figure in greyscale, or by completely desaturating it. • Pick a palette. Choose one that works for everyone, such as Color Universal Design or Color Blind 10 Palette, or create your ...
If you imagine someone who is red/green colour-blind looking at the natural colour system (NCS) colour circle (Figure 1), the standard view predicts that the elementary hues at due east (red) and due west (green) should look grey.There will, presumably, also be effects on the "binary hues" that are "phenomenally composed" of red and green, represented on the NCS colour circle as lying ...
According to Alexander, most of the individuals in the United States of America who are colored are devastated and targeted by the system of justice of the United States of America. Color Blindness and Equality. We should always endeavor to judge people by the content of their character, as opposed to the color of their skin.
Color Blindness and Equality Essay (Critical Writing) While delivering his ruling in the case of Regents v. University of California v. Bakke, Justice Harry Blackmum, a judge of the US Supreme Court, upheld the decision by institutions of higher learning to use race as one of the guiding factors in selecting qualified students to join college.
Why Color Blindness Is More Common in Men Than Women. Introduction Colour blindness occurs due to the dysfunction of cone photoreceptors, which are responsible for processing light wavelengths to see colours. Genetic factors on the X chromosome can deactivate genes that produce crucial red and green pigments in cone cells.
Color Blindless. Color blindness is the inability to distinguish particular colors. It is generally an inherited trait, but can result from a chemical imbalance or eye injury. There are three primary colors. They are red, blue, and yellow. All other colors are the results of different combinations of primary colors.
1499 Words. 6 Pages. Open Document. 1st period. Color Blindness Color blindness is the inability to see certain colors in the usual way; also called a color vision problem. A color vision problem can change your life. It makes it harder to learn and read, and you may not be able to have certain careers. Many young children get teased because of ...
Racial Discrimination and Color Blindness Essay. Exclusively available on IvyPanda®. Racial discrimination is the most rampant form of behavioral moral criticism in relation to race. Racism can either be personal or institutional, but is considered morally wrong. It can be capped by the application of a moral ideal referred to as color blindness.
The main cause of color blindness is genetically inheriting the disease. 1. When genetically inherited with color blindness males are affected more often than females. 2. This is because men have one x chromosome and one y chromosome, color blindness acts on the x chromosome so they are more likely than females because they have two x chromosomes.
Sociologists have recently begun to recognize the need to more deeply examine the mechanisms of contemporary colorblind racism, to move beyond frame identification and glean new insights. This is important because as racial dynamics evolve, so will the ideologies and discourses that surround them. This article considers how we might be able to ...
Essay on Color Blindness. Color Blindless Color blindness is the inability to distinguish particular colors. It is generally an inherited trait, but can result from a chemical imbalance or eye injury. There are three primary colors. They are red, blue, and yellow. All other colors are the results of different combinations of primary colors.
What Is Color Blindness English Language Essay. Color blindness is the inability to see certain colors in the usual way and the inability to perceive differences between some of the colors that can be distinguish that others can distinguish. It is often genetic in nature, but may also occur because of eye, nerve, brain damage or exposure to ...
In this respect, people claim that the racial inequality should be reduced and eliminated from the community. However, the actual claims made by politicians and other representatives of political and social power prove to be aimed at changing the racial hierarchy in California in negative sense. Every person can become color blind in terms of ...
by Amira Smale, June 2015. 1500 words. 5 pages. essay. Color Blindness. Introduction. Despite technological advances, ongoing scientific investigations, improvements in health care, and new research techniques, causes and nature of genetic mutations remain understudied. "Genetic disorders comprise a vast galaxy of anomalous conditions and ...
Common terms are abnormal color vision, color deficiency and color vision confusion. Females maybe be effected by color blindness, but usually they are just carriers. Males are more often affected. About 8% of males and 0.5% of females are effected by color blindness. Although color blindness may be a result of another eye disorder, the ...
In the August/September 2024 issue of Free Inquiry, Robyn Blumner, the CEO of the Center for Inquiry (which publishes the magazine), wrote an editorial called " Secular Humanism and the Color-Blind Society " in which she argues that Humanists can and should look beyond race in order to create a "color-blind society." The piece is behind a paywall.
Color-blindness and The Effects On Students Of Color Color-blindness and the effects on students of color For years America has supported a culture in which those who enjoy racial privilege unconsciously ignore the unique experiences of others. Many experience racial "colorblindness", which is the idea that ignoring or overlooking racial and ...
Michael Oher, former NFL star known for "The Blind Side," claims Tuohy family never adopted him 03:19. Michael Oher, the former NFL offensive lineman and inspiration for the 2009 box office ...
Best Cold Weather Blind: Ameristep Pro Series Thermal Hub Blind Best Value Full-Size Blind: Rhino Blinds R150 3 Person Hunting Ground Blind Best Value: Primal Treestands Wraith 270 Deluxe Blind