Blog Post #2

“But community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist… It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths” (Lorde, The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House, p. 112).

            For me, this statement is so important, because it explores the issue of identity and difference. Often, to figure out an issue, people think it is best to throw aside differences to find what everyone can agree on. However, the problem with this then becomes that these same people that are trying to help also make those that are different in some way lose their identity. This usually happens with issues of race, such as white feminism that tries to leave the problems that colored women face out of feminism.

Another way in which this problem of trying to put aside differences is seen is through colorblindness, a very prevalent concept right now. Colorblindness, which is when one "doesn't see race”, is a very common way for many to look at race. This can be seen through such popular movements right now as All Lives Matter, which focuses on everyone as a whole rather than singling out one highly targeted and marginalized group like Blacks (Black Lives Matter). This can be seen through this article here (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/13/why-saying-all-lives-matter-opposite-black-lives-matter/87025190/) that talks about how All Lives Matter reduces the vulnerability Black people have. As well, the argument is put forth that the movement is part of a bigger issue within talking about race: the concept that some people think that "talking about race is a form of racism" itself (May, 2016). 

The problem with this concept of colorblindness, as can be seen from the article, comes when a minority’s identity is forgotten or attempted to be whitewashed through these means of trying to make one all and the same. Through talking about the concept in my review of literature for my senior thesis, I have learned through scholarship that it demeans the experiences that those minority people have had. By trying to get rid of the difference, it loses the struggles that those of other races and other marginalized groups have had to go through. As Lorde points out, the solution to difference, then, is not to simply ignore them but instead learn how to use those differences as advantages (Lorde). In so doing, identities would not be erased and more could be done to advance the rights for all those who are marginalized, not just certain groups (like white feminists). 

This quote makes me think differently about the course material, because often the concept of intercultural communication is taught through the lens of communicating despite the differences. However, when one takes Lorde’s perspective into account, this course of Communication and Culture can focus less on “working through” the differences or simply trying not to let them get in the way of our communication, etc. Instead, we can focus more on embracing those differences to make the world a better and more equal place. Therefore, course material, and culture as a whole, can get analyzed in a different way that focuses on the positivity and importance of differences and of these differences being communicated and explained to further equality. This will, ultimately, put differences in a positive light, thus making it easier and more productive to talk with/about those that are different from the majority or from a certain, expected "norm" in our society.