Be color brave, not color blind: Mellody Hobson speaks at TED2014

[Louise]

Some very interesting points were raised
Additionally, the statistics given makes it even more valuable




http://blog.ted.com/2014/03/20/be-color-brave-not-color-blind-mellody-hobson-at-ted2014/

[Iniko Ujaama]

What did you find to be the most interesting points raised?

[Kairi]

Well I'm examining two points that she has raised -

1.  The idea of being colour brave seemed at first to be another way of advising against neutral racism. I like that she identified that this too is a danger if one is intent on developing a greater integrity with one's interactions in an ethnically diverse environment.  Celebrate diversity by acknowledging it in a more than tokenistic sense.  We are different, nothing wrong there. Own it and keep moving.

2.  Diversity trumps performance in the hiring field. 

Now this second point I'm finding hard to accept.  How is that "colour brave"?  Why would I hire someone on the basis or race or cultural difference rather than ability?  Maybe I'm reading it wrong but its coming across as unethical in my head...equally racist as hiring so as to standardise one's workforce to reflect a preferred single racial composition.  Her version of colour brave morphs into something I can't quite reconcile with my earlier assumption.

Have I misunderstood the article?

[Iniko Ujaama]

I think she was sending mixed messages in this presentation.

“The first step of solving any problem is not to hide from it. The first step to any form of action is awareness.”

True

“I’m not here to complain. I’ve been treated well by people of all races more often than not. I have succeeded in my life more than my wildest expectations. I tell the uniform story because it happened. I tell the race stats because they are real.”

Racial bias goes beyond this more overt or visible incidents. That she has been "treated well by people of all races more often than not" has little to do with the pervasiveness of colour and race bias in my view. While she is presenting a very wide and systemic problem she is at the same time using her personal experience to downplay it.

“In my view, that doesn’t mean there’s fairness. Color blindness is very dangerous because it means we’re ignoring the problem.”

I agree.

She is presenting this idea of facing the issue of colour and race difference as some kind of marketing campaign that it is good for business etc etc... I do not think that address this issue is that simple. It involves ingrained biases, significant ignorance and misinformation that needs addressing. I felt like she oversimplified the issue in her attempt to fit it into her business model. I was left at the end of the presentation trying to understand what was the main point she was trying to bring across.