Color-Blind Ideology and Cultural Appropriation

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One downside of being in a diverse environment in high school is the wrong influence of culture. This directly relates to color-blind ideology. Color-blind ideology can be defined as, “disregarding racial hierarchies by taking racially coded styles…and reducing them to commodities that racial minorities can purchase and share.” (Gallagher, 2003). One specific aspect of color-blind ideology is cultural appropriation. 

For example, in high school, there were a couple of white males who would wear du-rags, but only on social media since they were against our dress code. Since du-rags are typically worn by African Americans to help maintain, improve, and develop hair, I never understood the concept of wearing one if it didn’t have an actual use. This wasn’t that common at my high school, but it was definitely something that I recognized pretty quickly, especially since it was typically only over social media. 

This made me question the intention of a white person wearing a du-rag and it’s cultural meaning and significance. Did they only post it over social media because there wasn’t going to be a face to face confrontation about it? Did this mindset encourage them to do it more often? How did other people think/feel about this? 

Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who thought the same thing about this situation. I learned that a few of my best friends from school also felt the same. Unfortunately, it continued to happen after they were confronted about it. Although it didn’t stop, I think that the recognition of color-blind ideology in such a young environment, like high school, is important when talking about intersectionality and the acceptance/rejection of differences among different ethnic groups. 


Artifact Type: Personal Experience

Works Cited

Gallagher, Charles. (2003). “Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post-Race America.” Race, Class, and Gender: Intersections and Inequalities. Ed. Margaret L. Andersen, Ed. Patricia Hill Collins. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2019. 62-66. Print.