It’s no secret that the Kardashians are occasionally a little controversial. Whether it be advertising weight loss lolly pops or chemically straightening their infant’s hair, they are always at the core of public debates.
Khloe Kardashian’s latest tweet about the race of her first daughter True, who was born in April this year, now has people extremely mad.
The mother-of-one was attempting to defend her baby girl, after an onslaught of racist comments.
In the tweet, Khloe Kardashian wrote, “I try to put myself in their shoes & maybe they were brought up in a different type of household then I was. So instead of shaming I try to educate. In our household we do not see color. We see emotion and action. We see love. We feed off of energy,” in response to trolls on Twitter who were criticising her daughter.
But while Khloe clearly had wonderful intentions, many Twitter users believe the phrase “we do not see color” is problematic, and erases important intersectional conversations.
There are some simple reasons why Khloe’s tweet is being interpreted as racist.
Being ‘colourblind’ assumes that “white” is the default, but also erases people of colour’s history of oppression, and the ways that these narratives have informed different people’s everyday experiences.
You might have missed the mark a bit this time Khloe.
Top Comments
I don’t think she was ignoring different skin colours saying white was the only colour in any sense or ignoring a history of oppression, it’s saying she sees the person individually, not just the colour of their skin. I understand and agree with her- I’m not at all racist and I understand her point.
I’m sure being ‘colorblind’ to some people means seeing “people”, not race and not colour. Isn’t that the objective? Because wanting to maintain a separate identity and getting insulted it isn’t recognised appears to be at odds with everyone being equal irrespective of race and colour.
Yes, but you can have equality without erasing one's unique ethnic and racial heritage.
People who say they're "colourblind" are mostly those who have the luxury of not really having to think about their race, because they are a part of the majority and it's not something that really affects their lives very much. That in itself is not necessarily a negative thing - I'm white and I know that my race hasn't had any negative effect on my life. But it's important to be aware that people of colour, like Khloe's daughter, often do not have that luxury.
Khloe might look at her daughter and just see her beautiful baby girl but the world at large will see a black girl and any connotations that may go along with that. Khloe is doing her daughter a disservice if she's planning on ignoring that reality.