Using the racial ideology of color-evasiveness directly calls into question the presupposed goodness of ignoring race. Evasion is about avoidance or escape, not about explicitly creating solutions to problems.

– Simona Goldin & Debi Khasnabis (2022)

For many educators, we were taught that discussing or naming race was wrong. In many ways, we were taught that to be color-evasive is to be not racist.

However, the impact of this stance is that we fail to see, and begin to deny, the role that race and racism play in the lived experiences of people and how it manifests in institutions like ours. With a color-evasive stance, we also increase harm by placing the blame of systemic racism on those experiencing it instead of looking to fix the conditions and systems that contribute to racial inequities.

One example is found in Essential Understandings of Native Americans in Oregon:

A common stereotype is that all Native Americans are alcoholics; other examples include that they:

are subjected to abject poverty in some locations;
withstand zero economic opportunity;
live in food desert areas (i.e. areas in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh
food);
lack education.

While there is truth that Native Americans are disproportionately impacted by alcoholism (and other stereotypes above), what is missing from the context is the systemic racism and continuing colonization that create these unhealthy circumstances (page 12).

Moving to a color-conscious stance allows us to address racial inequities by attending to the beliefs, policies, and practices that contribute to racial inequities in our system.