Color Blind

At the recommendation of my color fundamentals prof, I started reading Oliver Sack's book "The Island of the Color Blind." The book records Sack's visit to the tiny Pacific atoll of Pingelap which supposedly has an isolated community of islanders born totally color blind, which is called acromatopsia. They basically see everything in various shades of black and white (e.g. grays).

I'm not far into the book, but I am intrigued by the concept of not being able to see in color. Those of us blessed with the ability to see color, take it for granted. Since I have begun this book, I am more aware of color and try to appreciate it for all that it is. Even the dull colors and hues. How amazing the array of colors in nature!!

In one part of the book, Sacks asks James an acromatope and a native of Pingelap, how they know when a banana is ripe since they cannot detect the color. James responded by saying, we don't just go by color. We look, we feel, we smell, we know--we take everything into consideration and you just take color!

So carry the concept of color blindness to looking at the hearts of men rather than the color of the skin. Is it possible for us to see others without color? Do we prejudge others based on their race? I encourage you to watch "Crash" which won an Academy Award this year for best picture (use caution as the language is quite harsh). It will challenge you to evaluate yourself. I watched the movie with my jaw hanging open because it truly made me think...think hard about my own life and how I see others. I don't feel like I see race when it comes to white and black...but do I still do this with others...what about Hispanic?...or Arabs?...do I see in color or am I color blind?