My M&M’s and Me…or, Is a “Color Blind” society really a good idea?

A friend of mine teaches Political Science, and is using this piece to demonstrate what a "color blind" society would be like. She and I agree on the implications of this little essay, but she was interested to see what her students would think, and I am interested in hearing what you think.

MY M&M’s and me

 

I have always liked M&M’s

The most diverse multicultural integrated candy in the world.

You have your red ones, your yellow ones, your orange ones, your brown ones, and your green ones.

All in one package

 

All coexisting together

One color doesn’t discriminate against the other.

One color doesn’t think that it is superior to the other.

All colors are the same size, shape and weight.

All colors look different on the outside but have the same ingredients on the inside.

M&M’s all have the same flavor and they all taste

G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-D

Not all M&M’s are perfect though.

Some have nuts!!!

In the real world we call them racists and bigots.

Wouldn’t it be nice if like M&M’s our prejudices melted into the abyss like chocholate melts in our mouth and all people were judged by what was inside rather than the color you see on the outside?

If candy can be prejudice free WHY CAN’T WE?

 

Our thoughts: This implies that all the red M&M’s are the same, and all the yellow ones are the same, and so on and so forth. Basically, it implies that all white people are the same, all black people are the same, etc, and that the only difference between the two is the color of their skin. I don’t agree with this. White people are NOT all the same any more than black people are all the same or latinos are all the same. Not talking about race won’t eliminate racism, it’ll just make it harder to stop since it’s not being talked about. True equality comes when we can recognize our differences (and recognize that there are differences within races as well as between races) and celebrate them, not when we can ignore our differences and stake the claim that we are all the same.

I am genuinely interested in your input here, so please let me know what you think.