White blindness — an important blind spot? 

Given former President Trump’s weird claim that Vice President Kamala Harris only recently identified as Black, I thought it might be interesting to discuss the concept of white blindness.

One must ask oneself, is racism invisible to white people? Consider this: A white colleague and I used to have mock contests between Boston (where he lived) and New York. I said, “While I would never say New York is perfect, at least it’s less racist than Boston.” He protested, “I don’t agree with you. I haven’t seen any racism in Boston.” I was shocked. “You do realize that you can’t generally ‘see’ racism if you are white?” 

If you’re the kind of person who rants against being woke, this may not matter to you. Then again, even white allies of BIPOC (Black, indigenous and other people of color) might consider reading further: You may have blind spots.

My goal is to potentially enhance relationships between white people and people of color, and to enable white people to better in confront racism in our society. Especially in these times of division, we need more people to engage in these fraught and sometimes difficult conversations. 

So, is racism invisible to white people? In short, the answer is yes, because racism is not directed at white people. Acts of racism are inherently “invisible” for this reason, with occasional exceptions. One of these are explicit acts like public gatherings of groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Another is when a white person is near a person of color and something racist occurs that can’t be blamed on something else.

The everyday racism and discrimination that people of color live with and expect goes largely goes unnoticed by white people. 

I’ve come to adopt the term, “white blindness” for this phenomenon. It is one aspect of “white privilege,” a concept that so many of my white friends can’t seem to accept. The key misconception is that white privilege is about the attitude of the individual. In fact, white privilege has nothing to do with any single person; rather, it is the result of society’s actions or assumptions. For example, an anti-racist, white ally who marches on the front lines for Black Lives Matter has the same white privilege as a white supremacist who attended that infamous rally in Charlottesville, Va. 

Another aspect of white blindness is the hesitation to apply the label “racist” to someone for the words they use. For example, Trump is well known for calling COVID-19 “kung-flu” and referring to Mexican immigrants as “rapists” sent by Mexico. Despite this, many white people in my circle shook their heads and gave Trump a pass on his clearly racist language, calling him instead crazy, outlandish and shocking.

When pressed for the reason they would not use the term “racist” that more clearly points to his use of inappropriate language, the response was that we don’t know what he is really thinking. It was as if more proof was needed of his base intentions rather than judging him for the language that he insists on using repeatedly. 

Why do so many ignore their own white blindness? Because one’s ignorance as a white person doesn’t have any disadvantage. On the other hand, it takes effort to step outside of oneself, to be critical enough to recognize one’s lack of knowledge, and to be open to the discomfort of learning.

I recall touching stories during the pandemic when many white people had their white blindness pierced; for example, a white woman shared in a newspaper interview that she had never asked her close Black friend of 20 years if she had ever experienced racism.

If you want authentic relationships with people of color, you must be open to the issues that you knowingly or unknowingly participate in every day. If your friends of color realize that you are empathetic and curious, even in a small way, they are more likely to open up and share their real-life experiences. This is the education required to be a true ally.  

Such dialog will enrich your understanding of the lives of people of color in our society, will improve your impact on others in our diverse society, and will enable you to have these challenging conversations. Unfortunately, few people seem to be willing to tread into this field of landmines, and it cannot always be your friends of color that broach this topic. Consider taking that first step! 

Chris Min an MD/PhD physician-scientist, board-certified in neurology. He is a former chief medical officer and interim CEO of a small public biotech company.