'Colorblind' society?

Love may be blind -- but colorblind? Not so much.\nRace still matters to some of the nation's 46.3 million 14 to 24 year olds who bear the distinction of being the United States' most diverse generation. While I'd agree that folks my age treat interracial dating with more civility than our parents or grandparents, race remains relevant to a number of us.\nAccording to an article in the Feb. 8 edition of USA Today, folks in the "Millennial" generation, as it's called, are more likely than people in any other sector of American society to have a diverse group of friends and date someone of another race. But the USA Today headline, "'Colorblind' generation doesn't blink an eye at interracial dating" seems a bit misleading.\nResearchers say that our generation's exposure to cultural diversity in the classroom and a vocabulary infused with buzzwords like "multicultural," "cross-cultural" and "inclusion" have created a generation of more open-minded and tolerant young people. This is, of course, a plus.\nBut the claim that depictions of interracial relationships, like the one in romantic comedy "Something New," have fueled a generation of colorblind people isn't something to get enthusiastic about. In fact, the assumption that people of my generation are so driven by media that the depiction of an interracial relationship on MTV's "Real World" has the final say on how we view the real world, for example, is an insult to our intelligence. \nSure, many of us have been bred to transcend old-fashioned notions of race, but the assertion that we aren't affected by the remnants of old-fashioned race relations is a bit dangerous. \nSaying that race is no longer relevant to the Millennial generation is an insult to our consciousness. The goal of diversity learning should not have been to rid our minds of race but rather to create a dialogue about similarities, differences and common experiences. \nFurthermore, describing an entire generation as colorblind comes off as a gross overgeneralization. The statement fails to take into account the concerns and everyday dealings of people who are not colorblind, and whose identity refuses them the option of ignoring race.\nBlack women in college, for example, outnumber their black male counterparts 2-to-1. And while there aren't any rules forbidding sistas from engaging in relationships with those other than black men, black women can't ignore color -- or the lack thereof on campuses nationwide. More than a few Valentine's Day discussions with my female peers ended in discussions about the dwindling number of black men in college. These women represent just one segment of my generation who still think race matters. \nSeeing beyond race is one thing, but not seeing race at all is nothing to celebrate. Of course, an increase in tolerance and open-mindedness should give us reason to believe things have gotten better. But the surface-level progress of today definitely doesn't mean we should forget the historical implications of our past or even the issues of our present. Open-minds are good. But open eyes are even better.