Discrimination Is… A visibility problem

In most contexts, it is unnecessary to mention a person’s gender, sexuality, religion or race but for members of minority groups these characteristics are mentioned quite often. This type of discrimination is called extra-visibility.

Extra-visibility is the emphasis of one characteristic above all others when referring to someone and gives the impression that the characteristic in question is so ‘odd’ that it is worth drawing attention to. This often results in the person being referred to, to be regarded as representative of an entire social group.

Consider the phrase: “I’m going to dinner with my black friend”. There is no reason for the speaker to mention the fact that their friend is black but doing so produces a number of questions:

– Does the speaker consider their black friend different to their friends of other races?

– Does the speaker consider being black novel?

– Does the speaker believe that dinner with their black friend will be different to dinner with a friend of another race?

– Does the speaker consider their friend’s race to be the most significant characteristic about them?

Although the speaker may not intend to infer any of those questions due to their choice in words they do.

Similar to extra-visibility is the concept of Tokenism. Tokenism is the policy or practice of making a perfunctory gesture toward the inclusion of members of minority groups and is usually a false appearance of inclusiveness. Many students make comments such as ‘my token Asian friend’ or ‘token gay friend’. Given that definition, it is clear that although said in jest, these statements are discriminatory – they often leave the person spoken about wondering if their friendship is merely a feigned attempt to be ‘cultural’.

On the flip side of extra-visibility is invisibility.  Invisibility is often seen when speaking about gender. For example, the using the word ‘mankind’ instead of people. However, invisibility can also be seen in things as seemingly minor as buying ‘nude underwear’ or using a ‘flesh toned’ crayon. The following image sums up this point best:

 

If you have been speaking in a discriminatory manner, or are told by someone that you are, please remember that this should not be regarded as an attack. It is an attempt to educate. Discriminatory language wears everyone down, not only those in minority groups, because it prevents understanding and empathy. It’s time to switch things up and wear down discrimination itself. #WearItDown