youngandsupple:

Read a pretty interesting article earlier about how white millennials have a tendency to equate diversity with anti-racism. It talked about how colorblindness and reverse racism, while aren’t new concepts, have been validated by gen-Xers and baby boomers— thus, an entire generation is growing up completely unaware of the power imbalance between whites and minorities.

It went on to cite surveys in which they asked white college students what they thought about things like affirmative action and other interventions meant to help racial minorities and a large percentage deemed these programs “unfair” to white people.

Yes, diversity is great and representation is great, but the conversation can’t stop there. We always always always have to talk about racism because that’s what is hurting people. If we address the issue of racism, then the issue of lack of diversity of representation will follow. Diversity has become the veil over our eyes that makes us think that everything is fine, when really they’re not.

To quote my public health prof last semester, when she was talking about how my university should reach out students about the non-indictment of Darren Wilson, “we [as a university] need to talk less about diversity and more about racism.”