Colour-Blind Ideologies

     A common theme prevalent in content created by aspiring allies is colour-blind ideologies, where discourse encourages equal treatment and the end of discrimination, while disregarding race, culture, ethnicity and systemic inequalities. By disregarding inequality due to power imbalances based on racial differences, equity and reparations are viewed as unnecessary since “we are all the same.” Sentiments such as N. Daslin’s “There is only one race / The human race” in their poem “Colours,” and Don Strapzy’s “He’s got Black skin I got white skin, but we all bleed the same” in their poem titled “Allyship” exemplify this. Content creator @Hopster expresses similar ideas in their original "Black Lives Matter Song for Kids," repeating “Black white, whatever your colour / Listen learn love each other.” Attitudes such as these avoid and discourage accountability for allies, especially white allies.  

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     Other verbal art pieces express colour-blindness by explicitly comparing themselves to other races, and listing colours. In the poem “Never Judge a Book by its Cover,” Nicky Pjuk says “I am white and made of all colours / Like when I’m ill I turn a little duller / When I’m hot I turn red / When I’m cold I turn blue / I also go green when I have the flu / I’ll go gold and brown when I sit in the sun / And a darker red when I’m having fun.” Similar attitudes are conveyed in the anti-racism song “Not Alone,” as Ghita Ouiach says, “Let’s see past our colours and find peace within / I get my bread from the Moroccan / And when I whip it it’s German / I cook my curry like an Indian / Forget the hate, let’s just love.” Some content creators' express pride for being white, as TikTok user @tjstuart815 says “I’m not sorry for my skin colour [white] it’s what I fucking am / And if you don't like it you can bite me ‘cause I don’t give a damn / ‘Cause whether we’re Black, Brown, white, yellow, red, purple or we’re mixed / We all bleed red and we’re all just fed up with racist bullshit.” Despite good intentions, verbal art pieces such as these not only minimize the oppression faced by the BIPOC community but promote ideologies which deter accountability and growth.