Truly color blind, or just politically correct?

[MHopkins2]

Something that's been amusing me since I started working retail, and since I'm home sick with a cold, I thought I'd post a potential pot-stirrer...

At my store, we always ask customers at the register which employee was helping them shop. Most of the time, they don't know the associate's name, so they resort to a brief physical description - hair color or style, clothing, and the like. Some customers seem to go ridiculously out of their way to avoid stating anything about race. Examples: my boss is a 6'2" bald black man, who is described regularly as "the really friendly guy" or "the guy with the big smile." A Chinese associate gets "the brunette" and "cute girl, kind of quiet." None of which are inaccurate, of course, but they don't necessarily narrow it down much.

Are these people truly so color blind that they don't recognize race as a physically identifiable characteristic, or are they afraid to say it, lest they be painted as racist for the crime of having functioning eyes? My guess is the latter, since, if I'm feeling particularly feisty, I'll call them out on it. "Oh, you mean the really tall bald black man?" Typical response: " *giggle* *blush* Um, yeah."

It's not just limited to racial shyness, either; an associate with about 80% hearing loss is described as "the guy with the foreign accent."

I would like to think that I'm color (and deafness and whatever else) indifferent, but I am not and will not pretend to be blind. I just don't get it. Thoughts?

 

[MsLeFever]

I see this all of the time at play auditions. I don't know if they are being "silly" - just trying really hard not to sound like race is the first thing that they notice.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I see this at Express all the time....this is where my clothes come from. So many people refer to the black girls as......the girls in pink, blue or what ever they are wearing. I refer to them as they are: either the black girl in the pink sweater or whatever she is wearing. Not a big deal to me.

ETA - I voted that these people are silly and PC

 

[Sandy22]

I've been thinking about this very question. I live in a predominantly caucasian community. I'm white but am adopting a black child. I can just picture the day when I'm at the playground and someone asks me which child is mine. The most obvious characteristic will be her skin color since she'll likely be the only black child there. So do I identify her as the little black girl? It would seem weird to ignore that and try to point her out by something else. I don't want people or my daughter to think we need to tip-toe around her race and skin color. I want my daughter to be proud of her race and her beautiful skin color.

 

[MHopkins2]

Woo - at least one person thinks I'm a racist! Please do post why...

 

[roger_ramjet]

I think it might be that people these days are conditioned not to see people in the context of race, just in case for some bizarre reason someone gets offended at being characterised by some sort of racial characteristic. This is my gut feeling on the matter - sure, it's mostly pointless, but folks are so careful not to offend that it causes this sort of 'colour avoidance', I suppose you could call it.

 

[katerkat]

I think people are overly PC sometimes. I remember one time, someone criticized me for calling my cats "black" and "white" - hello, look at my sig pic! They ARE black and white!

 

[tiggersmom2]

I think people are overly PC sometimes. I remember one time, someone criticized me for calling my cats "black" and "white" - hello, look at my sig pic! They ARE black and white!

OMG! Katerkat, that is when you should have said...."but their name is Mandingo and Aurelia"

 

[MHopkins2]

I think people are overly PC sometimes. I remember one time, someone criticized me for calling my cats "black" and "white" - hello, look at my sig pic! They ARE black and white!

Oh, for the love. Please tell me you're joking?

 

[the kabuki]

Ok, I'm going to admit I'm one of these people who point out the tall black bald man as the "very friendly guy". Yes, I know it's silly, but I feel as if I might offend someone if the first thing I mention is color or race

 

[Charade]

Woo - at least one person thinks I'm a racist! Please do post why...

Well Michele, you just experienced a "drive-by" poll taker.

 

[2bemarried]

I voted in the "I don't like any of these options" category. I think you should have added just a category for being politically correct and polite. There's no way in heck that I'm going to go to a counter and say "the tall skinny black chick helped me", instead I'll say "the tall female in jeans & poncho". Why should we have to specify the color of his/her skin? To be completely honest, I think using his/her name specifically is the most polite thing to do.

 

[Charade]

I'd bet that if you were in a store where the help was mostly non-white and so were the customers, that they would add "white" to the description to identify someone.

I don't think it's all that big of a deal.

You are white, black, brown, Asian, etc.

If you were trying to describe a criminal suspect to the cops, you would certainly use their color to describe them.

Or would you be PC and not?

 

[Charade]

What if the person was really short or even a dwarf or midget?

 

[MHopkins2]

Well Michele, you just experienced a "drive-by" poll taker.

Twice, now! LOL!

 

[tiggersmom2]

Dammit!! No one understood my Mandingo/Aurelia comment!!!

 

[MHopkins2]

There's no way in heck that I'm going to go to a counter and say "the tall skinny black chick helped me", instead I'll say "the tall female in jeans & poncho". Why should we have to specify the color of his/her skin?

You certainly don't have to, I just think it's a quick, easy, and (most importantly) harmless identifier. I see race as a physical characteristic and not any kind of derogatory statement, so I don't get the reticence.

To be completely honest, I think using his/her name specifically is the most polite thing to do.

I agree with that, of course, but sometimes the associates forget to offer their names, and (more often) the customers forget. Hence, the physical descriptions.

 

[MHopkins2]

Dammit!! No one understood my Mandingo/Aurelia comment!!!

I'm assuming it's a literary or movie reference, but must admit that I don't recognize it. Sorry, suge!

 

[MHopkins2]

What if the person was really short or even a dwarf or midget?

Interestingly enough, the one very short girl that works at our store is typically described as just that, "the really short girl." Maybe short isn't considered as potentially offensive as black, asian, or deaf?

 

[tiggersmom2]

I'm assuming it's a literary or movie reference, but must admit that I don't recognize it. Sorry, suge!

It is a literary AND movie reference. Great movie with Perry Walker...I really must buy this! I rented it at blockbuster several years back but I will bet the farm that it is not there now.