I Have Lived Long Enough to Know that People are People
I am a diamond. At least, that is what my high school history teacher, Mrs. Clara Luper, called me and all her students. We were HER diamonds, and our gender, race, or ethnicity was of no importance. I am Mrs. Luper’s diamond, and just like a natural gemstone, I was formed under intense pressure for many years, shaped by the grains of earthly struggles and family trauma into something resilient and beautiful—a daughter of God Almighty.
Clara Luper was a diamond, too, of the very best quality. However, the worldly pressures that shaped her Black American brilliance and sparkle were grounded in Oklahoma City’s poverty and segregation policies of the era. After being denied service at the Katz Deli lunch counter several times in 1958, she organized the NAACP Youth Council to host a sit-in protest, which garnered national media attention. After that, she became a pioneering civil rights leader who organized dozens of nonviolent efforts to desegregate public establishments. Mrs. Luper was a one-of-a-kind gem, teacher, and friend.
When asked by the press if she, a black woman, could represent white people, she responded: “Of course, I can represent white people, black people, red people, yellow people, brown people, and polka dot people. You see, I have lived long enough to know that people are people.”[1]
Clara Luper, who died in 2011, understood identity politics, though not by that name, likely would have aligned with Coleman Hughes when he stated in his book The End of Race Politics that “Colorblindness is the wisest principle by which to govern our fragile experiment in multiethnic democracy.”[2]
We Already Know that Poverty Does Not Discriminate
“While humans will always retain a tendency to draw distinctions between “us” and “them,” the criteria for who is included in the in-group, and how members of the out-group are treated, are deeply dependent on context.”[3] Hughes’s thesis is that while race is the most common way society categorizes people to make sense of the world, it is inaccurate. Skin color does not convey the more essential aspects about someone, such as where they were born or raised, their values and beliefs, or their everyday experiences. Instead, race has become the primary mechanism to associate color with disenfranchisement. The problem here is that poverty does not discriminate and impacts people of all races and ethnicities, ages, and genders.
Instead, Coleman argues that the better and more accurate way to categorize people groups is by socioeconomic status. Given that the U.S. operates within a capitalistic economy that focuses so much on wealth, it makes sense that we would typify people similarly. I concur with the author. Once you can accurately cluster people together, you will better understand their resources and needs.
A Counter Thought: What If Politics Weren’t Fueled by Race?
Many people believe that the U.S. will never be colorblind in its policies, not because they think race should be the primary factor in political decisions but because ignoring race in the development of policies means ignoring the systems of inequality and the ongoing impact of racial injustices that have persisted for generations. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes, “This country’s never going to be colorblind. We had the initial original sin of slavery. It’s still with us.”[4] Robin DiAngelo, whose work significantly informed Hughes’ research, was quoted saying, “Colorblindness is a form of denial, an avoidance of the uncomfortable realities of race and racism.”[5]
Opposition to Hughes’ idea of promoting colorblind policies is a clear rub to some who feel he is aiming to reverse course on all the progress on equality gained through and since the civil rights era.[6] While removing race from politics might seem like a positive step forward, there could be unintended consequences that miss the lived experiences of minority groups. Politics that ignore race may inadvertently perpetuate the very systems of inequality they are trying to address, deepening racial divisions and leaving systemic issues unaddressed. Acknowledging race and addressing racial disparities remain essential to creating a fair and equitable society.
While my thoughts lean closer to the approach described by Coleman Hughes, Clara Luper, while she would have agreed with his ideology, would have struggled with the aspect that colorblind politics doesn’t acknowledge the history of segregation and discrimination that continues to shape American culture. She would have seen Hughes’ thesis as an attempt to maintain the status quo without addressing the root causes of racial inequality, countering her core philosophy of empowerment. Is there a way to get to “yes, and…” instead of one or the other?
“My biggest challenge, I think, was within myself – to believe that I could continue in spite of conditions. My biggest challenge was that I could continue without knowing where our next dollar was coming from. And the main challenge and the main satisfaction was knowing that someday we’d be able to do what my father, who was a veteran in World War I, was not able to do, and that was to enjoy the privileges of first-class citizenship.”[7] – Clara Luper.
[1] “Clara Luper.” Wikipedia, January 24, 2025. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clara_Luper&oldid=1271626426.
[2] Hughes, Coleman. The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America. New York: Thesis, 2024. P. XVII.
[3] Mounk, Yascha. The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. New York: Penguin Press, 2023. P.13.
[4] Onley, Dawn. “Condoleezza Rice Shoots down Claims That America Is More Racist under Trump.” TheGrio. Last modified June 21, 2019. Accessed February 16, 2025. https://thegrio.com/2019/06/21/condoleezza-rice-shoots-down-claims-america-more-racist-trump/.
[5] DiAngelo, Robin J. White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018.
[6] Hughes, Coleman. “- YouTube.” Video. The View. Accessed February 16, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwEq38aL9M.
[7] “Luper, Clara.” Accessed February 16, 2025. https://www.rose.edu/content/academics/academic-divisions/liberal-arts-sciences/social-sciences/history/oral-history/luper-clara/.
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