Missing: The White Person's Scholarship
Socially, what does it mean to be “color-blind?”
Some say they are, some say they aren’t. Some even say it isn’t possible. Suppose, however, that it is possible. Is it good? Or does it even matter?
For many, the term “color-blind” (when speaking about race) has a positive connotation. When a white person is asked how they feel about black people, they might (finding themselves quite eloquent) reply with, “Black? I don’t see skin color. I’m color-blind.”
Presuming this white person is not actually medically color blind, we can assume he or she means to say that they have evolved above seeing race or ethnicity. They might find themselves to be both wise and mature, believing they have found the answer to America’s racial tensions. These racial tensions, however, stare me in the face every time I try to apply for a college scholarship. There is no amount of “color-blindness” that can get rid of them.
Saying the opposite of racism is blindness is like saying you can’t decide if you should eat or drink, so you should just not do either (just in case you favor one too heavily). There’s no reason you can’t find a healthy balance; there is no reason you can’t get over what preference you have for one. The problem with becoming “blind” to race is that it allows racism to exist. Saying you are “color-blind” implies that racism no longer affects you. Thus, the more people who fall victim to “color-blindness,” the more people exist under the delusion that racism is dead.
The problem is, racism is not dead. In fact, it’s far from dead, and the more we ignore it, the worse it will become. We have allowed racism to sit quietly and fester until it has grown a second head. This second head is the one I, a white person, face, and it hadn’t really shown its face to me until I began looking for scholarships.
The equation is really very simple. The more time I spend looking for financial aid, the more I will find; ideally, the more I will receive. Instead of this equation becoming true (or even the opposite of it becoming true) I find that the more time I go through list after list of college scholarships, the more frustrated I become. Here is a world of money- thousands of dollars- that is mine for the taking. Mine, that is, if I am African American, Hispanic, or Asian. Therein lies the problem: I am white.
You can try to search “white” or “Caucasian” in the scholarship search, but you won’t find what you are looking for. One may argue that every scholarship that doesn’t appeal to a minority group is a white person’s scholarship, and because I know how this world works, I cannot fully disagree. I can, however, feel ripped off. Many of these scholarships appeal to my major, Journalism, and because I am not black, Hispanic, or Asian, I have no reason to apply. But who said that I am not just as deserving as they are? Who said race has anything to do with skill?
Because my country has brushed race under the rug, I must face the consequences. Racism and minorities were oppressed and ignored for too long and so, logically, they had no choice but to fight back. And yet, we continue to find new ways to ignore racism, and nurture our delusions. There is nothing more disgusting in this world than ignorance: first, because it grants those who hold it false knowledge, and second, because the false knowledge earned from it hurts others.
