Color-blind-folded

I did some questioning of the essays we read by Tim Wise, but for the most part his speaking blew me away. 1. He was funny. 2. He used relatable stories to illustrate his points, like with his gumbo story. and 3. He had some new approaches to the topic of racism that I hadn't heard before.

I now understand that his essays that had grated on me were written in response to certain things that tea party politicians (and friends) had said, and context is everything for argumentative essays. One of the things that struck me was the idea of white people who want to go back to the 50's or an earlier era due to the "politics" or supposed "tax situation" of the time. Well, these earlier time periods also happen to come with a giant dose of racism. It also ties in with the Southerners who cling to the confederate flags; whether they intend to or not, wishing to go back to these times comes with the bad too--slavery, injustice, cruelty--these can't be ignored. Skipping over these facts, ignoring this part of history, is racist. I had thought to play off of nostalgia with something similar to Lex Drewinski's piece, "Nostalgia":

But I couldn't come up with anything comparable. I went through my jotted notes of things Tim Wise had said that stuck out, and I decided instead to focus on the concept of being "color blind." The concept of nostalgia and being "racially colorblind" both deal with the issue of ignoring race--by denying it's existence or by forgetting it. This in turn propels racism forward. Since I have a tendency to take phrases literally, I came up with this image:

It took me some toying around to pick the expression I wanted. I settled on a bit of a smug "I'm so tolerant I don't even see race. I mean, sure, it means I could be denying part of who you are as a person, but I'm white so I don't really have to care, do I?" smile. Or at least that's what I was going for. People of privilege can exist without being aware of those who aren't--not that they should. It's yet another privilege that can be added to the injustice tally when it comes to race. I think my image's message is straightforward and could serve as a blog icon or header for an article about the same topic. So, for this purpose, my blunt style managed just fine.
(Thanks to all for chatting about how I could work some subtleness into the future though!)