Plenty of people claim to be “colorblind” when it comes to race—though most people would be skeptical about whether it’s really possible.
But what if you’re actually blind? Would you still “see” race?
In an almost Chappelle Show sort of twist (Clayton Bigsby, anyone? [NSFW]), this is what Asia Friedman, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Delaware recently sought to find out: whether those who are blind still characterize others by race.
The results of this groundbreaking study were presented at the 110th American Sociological Association’s Annual Meeting. Friedman interviewed 25 individuals who were blind, of which nearly half the participants were black (12) or white (11), and in which only one identified as Asian and another as multiracial, according to the preliminary paper emailed to redOrbit.
Lack of visual assignment
One of the major conclusions of the study involved how sight influences the way we group those around us by race. For example, individuals who aren’t blind often need less than a glance to categorize others as a particular race. But for the visually impaired, the process is much different.
“The visual process of assigning race is instantaneous, and it’s an example of automatic thinking — it happens below the level of awareness,” explained Friedman in a statement. “With blind people, the process is much slower as they piece together information about a person over time. Their thinking is deliberative rather than automatic, and even after they’ve categorized someone by race, they’re often not certain that they’re correct.”
While this process tended to be the same, there were some differences within the group, as some of the interviewees only became blind later in life. For example, of the eight respondents who became blind in adulthood, three reported that they still visualize race in their minds, while two others indicated they were still very curious about what people look like (which they attributed to being able to see previously). As one woman put it, “I haven’t been this way all my life so I’ve known. […] I grew up, I could see and I still picture it so it’s a visual thing, it’s always a visual thing in my mind’s eye.”
For the nine who were born blind or became blind in early childhood, most indicated they had no concept of physical appearance at all, making the concept of race more of an intellectual or cultural notion. Some were fairly indifferent towards race in general. “I might not even know […] So I guess what I’m saying is that you really can’t tell and so I don’t want to,” said one woman.
Basing thoughts on other things
However, of the 25, nearly every person had developed cues by which they could attempt to assign race, with 24 participants reporting voice as a cue, and 18 using names to help them determine. Even then, all 25 participants repeatedly emphasized that there was no way for them to know for certain, and that often they couldn’t tell at all.
Moreover, several participants indicated that being unable to visualize skin color can lead to different first impressions than sighted people: “I think because I can’t see what that person is, until I know what they have done and how they have treated me and how they behave, then I have the ability to base my thoughts and actions and perceptions of them on something other than skin color,” said one woman.
Several also indicated that being blind led them to empathize with groups labelled as “other,” and thus they made an effort not to add to this separating process. However, as one man indicated, they are not perfectly unprejudiced; they are merely less likely to assume or judge.
“And it’s not like I’m saying that being blind you’re absolved from being racist or forming predetermined opinions about races, and so that happens. That happens with anybody. Just because of the people you associate with as you’re growing up and forming yourself, but it makes it harder.”
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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