An Artist's Perspective on Color Theory and Race

As a serious photographer and someone who dabbles in graphic design and a few of the more traditional arts little drawing and painting, color plays a major role in the work that I do. As someone whose first artistic love is poetry and writing, it helps to describe settings, emotions and so much more. It made me wonder about how we use color in terms of race and ethnicity in our world. Here's what I've come up with.

First off, there are no black people. Second there are no white people. Okay, hopefully that didn't just blow your mind or tick you off but hear me out.

Let's start with the color black. In a scientific sense, it is the absence of all color. Therefore, black is not a color at all. Practically, no person on this planet actually looks black, it is more visually correct to say brown or in some shade of such. And thus if people were to consider themselves "people of color" it would be in direct opposition to calling themselves black.

Now, let's cover the term white. Since black is the yin to white's yang, that means that in terms of science, white is the inclusion of all color. In a more authentic and practical sense, no person on this planet actually looks white. It is more visually correct to say something like beige of a similar shade.

Now, let's look at why these terms are used in the first place. Sure, we need descriptive terms for many purposes. We can't just go around saying that the suspect we witnessed in a crime was simply a human without presenting a little more detail. We can't just tell our friends to look for the human guy near the front office to discuss business. It is literally impossible to describe people without some visual guide. However, that is not the issue in itself.

The problem manifests when we allow these colors to define us. In many cases, this is the doing of our national leaders. In some cases, it is the doing of our communities. In others, the news. There are lots of others to blame but you get the point.

When we have organizations dedicated to a particular race, that does nothing but divide. It doesn't matter whether or not that is the majority race or a minority one. The result is the same, division and discontent. When we have TV channels and entertainment options dedicated to a particular race, it does the same. The same goes for gender but that is another issue in itself. When we intentionally break people into segments, no matter how well-intentioned the reason, it has no really benefit to society.

The one very interesting fact that I have discovered working with photography centers around a completely different color. I'm not going off topic hear just stick with me.

When editing photos for color correction, airbrushing, exposure...I have noticed something very interesting. No matter what race, ethnicity, gender, age, height, weight, shape or anything else that may visually describe a person you may use, all people have one similarity. All skin tones, no matter how light or dark, share the same color within them, that color is red. And in a metaphorical or symbolic sense, what does red represent? Well, among other concepts it represents life in the form of blood. All humanity shares the common bond of blood. Thus, it can be said that in this regard, we are all connected by blood in some way. Perhaps this is what some have called the brotherhood or humanity. So perhaps we should be focusing less on the perceived colors that are often used to divide us rather than the ones that unite.