
- In the United States, 39 percent of African-American children and adolescents are living in poverty, which is more than double the 14 percent poverty rate for non-Latino, White, children and adolescents (Kids Count Data Center, Children in Poverty 2014).
- At each level of income or education, African-Americans have worse outcomes than Whites (Braveman, Cubbin, Egerter, Williams, & Pamuk, 2010).
- African-Americans are more likely to attend high-poverty schools than Asian-Americans and Caucasians (National Center for Education Statistics, 2007).
- Minority racial groups are more likely to experience multidimensional poverty than their White counterparts (Reeves, Rodrigue, & Kneebone, 2016).
- African-Americans (53 percent) are more likely to receive high-cost mortgages than Caucasians (18 percent; Logan, 2008).
- African-Americans report a lower risk of having a psychiatric disorder compared with their white counterparts, but those who become ill tend to have more persistent disorders (McGuire & Miranda, 2008).
- Police killed 1,143 people in 2018. Black people were 23% of those killed despite being only 13% of the population.
- Perceived discrimination has been shown to contribute to mental health disorders among African Americans (Jang, Chiriboga, Kim, & Rhew, 2010; Mezuk et al., 2010).
- Compared with Whites, African-Americans are more frequently diagnosed with schizophrenia, a low-prevalence but serious condition (McGuire & Miranda, 2008).
- African American unemployment rates are typically double that of Caucasian Americans. African-American men working full-time earn only 72 percent of the average earnings of comparable Caucasian men and 85 percent of the earnings of Caucasian women (Rodgers, 2008).
These statistics, which most people will acknowledge reflect racism, are the very things that whites want to distance themselves from and its understandable. But for the black community, we don’t have the option to distance ourselves.
You see, these statistics affect everything about our lives… including our mental health statuses, our physical health statuses, our financial security, our freedom, our wealth potential, our educational statuses, and our professional goals. We can’t distance ourselves the same way our white friends can.
So by not seeing color, you see the statistics on racism, but you don’t see your friends individual welfare which is affected by these statistics.
You might not see color, but WE DO.
To SEE COLOR is a choice that must be consciously made so that you can connect with your black friends and counterparts.

- Implies that black bias and prejudices towards whites have a similar effect on whites as white racism has on blacks. Unfortunately, because of the position of power and privilege that many whiteness are afforded in U.S. society, this is not the case. Except in the case of physical harm, it is rare that black racism will harm whites as much as white racism hurts blacks. Also, this statement assumes that having racist attitudes is acceptable when the targeted group is also guilty of prejudice.
- Helplessness gives one an excuse not to change the status quo, whether it is one’s own behavior or that of others.
- Indicates a lack of knowledge about the connection between slavery and racism that still exists today. Also, denies the history of a people, which denies the people themselves.
- Indicates resentment toward African Americans, with a belief that they have unfair advantage. Shows ignorance of white entitlement, insistence that the playing field is level and that whites do not enjoy privilege merely by virtue of being born white.
- Although intended to be a statement of inclusion, it can be a statement about how much better it is to be white. The speaker might believe that being black is a handicap and that she or he has been able to ignore this deficit as far as Kathy is concerned by denying her racial identity.
- Indicates discomfort with African Americans and assumes that the speaker will have nothing in common with them.
- An expression of helplessness and an excuse not to learn or change.
Garrett McAuliffe and Associates (2013). Culturally Alert counseling: A Comprehensive Introduction: Second Edition: Sage Publications. Inc
If you have been harmed by this form of race related trauma and are in need of support,