When I was a kid, we used to have a song we sang when we walked down the street, deliberately bumping into people we didn’t like.
I am blind and I can’t see, and if I knock you down don’t you blame it on me.
As if that absolved us from guilt.
Being “color blind” requires that you pay no attention to the reality visible from the corners of your eyes. Certain parts of reality remain unseen, unheard, unnoticed.
Specificity, accuracy and authenticity all come from paying attention. A good writer is curious, and willing to step outside his/her normal boundaries. A great writer is someone willing to admit that what they think they know about other groups could be false.
Minority groups do not have the option of being color blind. The media, entertainment to news, businesses, unions, and all ordinary aspects of life are dominated by images of the majority culture.
Authors who really care about writing diversely and want to do more than exert their right to “write whatever I want,” strive to find new and innovative ways to learn their subject matter. They don’t settle for the quick and easy things everyone knows, or take the stereotype path.