What if you were blind?

Photo Credit: Jen Palmer on Unsplash

What if you were blind?

How do you define color to a blind person? 

A better question: would skin color matter if you were blind?

I was taught as a child our skin color was the result of genetics. Skin color wasn't much different than eye or hair color…and underneath that, we're all the same.

We all have hopes and dreams. We all have passions and fears. We all bleed red. 

We all have minds, hearts and souls. We all need to love and be loved. We're not that different, actually. Why does the skin we're in matter?

What if you were blind? Would skin color matter? Or would we accept people for who they are? A great man once said that men should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. 

How often do we look past the superficial and take the time to learn about our fellow humans? Is it possible to see a soul first? Can we know their minds? Can we understand their hearts? Can we engage with someone who looks different?

When we make generalizations about groups, we discredit the individual. We lose the opportunity to learn about a person, and love them for who they are. Compassion and understanding cease because generalizations build walls of presupposition. 

We put people in a box. 

We've been divided into subcategories and taught we're too different to live together. Too different to dream together. Too different to grow as people, together.

There are too many lines that segregate us. The color of our skin should not be one of them.

I love this video.

This video uses spoken word to destroy the box. It's a life changer, or at least should be.

Just for today, pretend you're blind to skin color. Pretend it doesn't matter. 

I challenge you to love someone vastly different from you. I can promise this: it will change you.


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