Science & Technology
A Case for Color Blindness | Coleman Hughes | TED
Racial inequality provokes passionate opinions and varied ideas of how to build a fair, equitable society. One topic that’s been contentiously debated for generations is color blindness: the concept that we should look beyond race when thinking about equity. In this talk, writer and podcast host Coleman Hughes makes a case in favor of the…
CNET
Checking Out the Afeela Prototype
Tech reporter Abrar Al-Heeti got the chance to check out the Sony x Honda Afeela prototype at TechCrunch Disrupt. Here’s what she found inside. #techcrunchdisrupt #sonyafeela #sony #honda #cars Subscribe to CNET on YouTube: Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉 Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront: Follow us on TikTok: Follow us…
CNET
Unboxing the PlayStation 5 Pro
We got our hands on the PlayStation 5 Pro. Let’s unbox it and compare it to the PS5 and PS5 Slim. #ps5pro #playstation5 #playstation #gaming #unboxing Subscribe to CNET on YouTube: Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉 Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront: Follow us on TikTok: Follow us on Instagram: Follow…
CNET
A Helium-Filled Cell Tower in the Sky
We visited Sceye’s hangar in Roswell, New Mexico to learn about the company’s High Altitude Platform System (HAPS), which is designed to provide internet services to underserved communities and conduct Earth observation with partners including NASA and USGS. Read more on CNET.com: Launching Balloon-Like Infrastructure for the Stratosphere 0:00 Intro to Sceye’s HAPS 0:39 What…
Nvidia Rises, Silicon Valley Faces Election Divide | Bloomberg Technology
Donald Trump’s Potential Silicon Valley Impact
Kamala Harris’ Potential Silicon Valley Impact
-
Science & Technology4 years agoNitya Subramanian: Products and Protocol
-
CNET4 years agoWays you can help Black Lives Matter movement (links, orgs, and more) 👈🏽
-
Wired5 years agoHow This Guy Became a World Champion Boomerang Thrower | WIRED
-
People & Blogs3 years agoSleep Expert Answers Questions From Twitter 💤 | Tech Support | WIRED
-
Wired5 years agoNeuroscientist Explains ASMR’s Effects on the Brain & The Body | WIRED
-
Wired5 years agoWhy It’s Almost Impossible to Solve a Rubik’s Cube in Under 3 Seconds | WIRED
-
Wired5 years agoFormer FBI Agent Explains How to Read Body Language | Tradecraft | WIRED
-
CNET5 years agoSurface Pro 7 review: Hello, old friend 🧙
Fun Fact explanation
August 9, 2023 at 12:18 pm
Good speech🙂🙂
Gulandom Abdullajonova
August 9, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Wonderful speech 👍
PCBacklash _
August 9, 2023 at 2:49 pm
What’s so amazing about this talk is that it’s so g@d-d@mned obvious! In a more comprehensive way, it echoes the eloquent sentiment expressed by Dr. King so long ago: “…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character…”
Joan Rosales
August 9, 2023 at 3:02 pm
What an insightful take on the concept of Colorblindness in the context of race. Nonetheless, I initially believed this would be a video discussing Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD).🤦🏻♀️
Anh Nguyễn
August 9, 2023 at 7:18 pm
😊😊😊😊
Anh Nguyễn
August 9, 2023 at 7:19 pm
😊😊
Michelle Lester
August 9, 2023 at 3:10 pm
Color blind, age blind, faith blind, marital status blind, gender/orientation blind all becomes need sighted? So people should not be granted OR denied a job, a loan, a place to call home or anything else based on any criteria but need/class and we just take the socio back out of the economic?
a_dinosaur117
August 9, 2023 at 9:17 pm
Depends on the situation. Here’s one example from the list you’ve provided: If you have a 60 year old and a 30 year old applying for the same position, you would probably be safe to assume that the 60 year old may retire soon, and if you’re looking for a long term employee, it actually would work out better for the company to NOT be age blind.
This ^ is an example of where blindness may not be useful. The point Coleman makes is that in the vast majority of our current social disputes regarding race, they actually have nothing to do with race and actually boil down to class, hence we can afford to be blind to race.
Let’s take affirmative action for example (giving students an advantage or disadvantage in college admissions depending on their race). The logic here is that black and brown students are less privileged than white students, so they should get an admission advantage. The problem with this is that not ALL black and brown people are less privileged than ALL white students, there are bound to be SOME white applicants that have had it harder, and thus they get unfairly penalized for their immutable characteristic unnecessarily (their race).
Providing advantages by class however, is a much better metric to use due to its higher correlation coefficient between how hard the universities think your life was vs how hard it ACTUALLY was. Because the correlation is higher, it would be better to use class as a metric for affirmative action, thus enabling you to be color blind.
And the logic I used for the case of affirmative action regarding looking at class instead of race can be applied to pretty much all current racial disputes over which groups should get resources from the government.
Shawn Potestio
August 9, 2023 at 10:11 pm
Did you even listen to the Talk? Hughes makes the case for “color blindness,” not blindness to the variety of other statuses you listed.
MrSidney9
August 10, 2023 at 12:16 pm
@a_dinosaur117It’s still illegal (and rightfully so) to refuse an adult employment because of their age, say because they are old. And yes i know companies do it, but it’s not right. The standard should be ” can they perform the duties required by the job.” A young person can quit at any point. So worrying that the older person will retire soon os the wrong worry.
a_dinosaur117
August 10, 2023 at 12:55 pm
@MrSidney9 I actually agree, my point was to articulate Coleman’s argument regarding certain metrics being more effective than others. Technically there is a high correlation between age and proximity to retirement, however I agree with you that it still should be illegal because as you said, employees can stay and leave at any time, regardless of age. An even better metric than age would applicants just being honest about how long they wanted to stay at the company, just like in regards to affirmative action, the ideal situation is applicants detailing truthfully their life story in their college apps.
The 80/20 Drummer
August 12, 2023 at 3:42 pm
That’s a strawman. People should be granted an extra leg up based on effects we can measure. If people argue that the legacy of racism left some families behind because of the wealth gap, let’s measure wealth. (If we don’t, we risk giving extra advantages to the children of upper middle class families over poor ones just because of their pigmentation.) is it “racial trauma”? Well let’s measure that then, because that would be a closer proxy. What Coleman is arguing against is the idea that people should be granted extra privileges based on race even apart from any adverse effects we can measure. Because once we’re out of the realm of measuring effects, we’ve got at least 2 obvious problems: first, it’s all conjecture which “precursors” we assume have effects. Perhaps we should privilege descendants or holocaust survivors, or the bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Second, there’s no way to measure the effects over time of the extra privilege we grant. If we assume everyone with beyond a certain level of melanin should get an advantage (instead of those suffering a tangible effect we can measure), how would we know when to end the reverse discrimination? You might answer, as Jamelle did in the debate “when the wealth gap is gone”, in which case why not just focus on the wealth gap. Once opponents of color blindness admit they want race to carry weight beyond its measurable effects because of things we Assume it presages, that’s a mighty slippery slope.
The 80/20 Drummer
August 12, 2023 at 3:50 pm
I actually thought of a stronger argument than Jamelle Buey advanced, which is this: with non-racial proxies like class, they’re some part “bad luck” and some part factors the policies the government has control over, but with descendants of slaves, it’s a special kind of disadvantage because the US and state governments had a direct hand in shaping the situation. I’d be open minded to some kind of adversity index where being a descendant of slaves was cross referenced with low income, low family wealth, having been “red-lined”, etc. But I imagine Coleman would’ve answered that he’d support that too, and it’s functionally color blind, since it’s using something like “liability” of the governments in an individual’s situation as the metric rather than skin color.
Eduardo Santos
August 9, 2023 at 3:39 pm
I almost always find the moderator’s questions out of focus :/
Jacob Shirley
August 9, 2023 at 5:51 pm
To be fair, I thought it was a good question. I don’t “agree” with it, but it’s a question many people would’ve asked themselves.
Peter Hu
August 9, 2023 at 5:42 pm
Well said!
Naemat Hamdi
August 9, 2023 at 8:52 pm
Shout out nice speaker❤
Michael Puente
August 10, 2023 at 3:46 am
Perfectly explained, if you disagree with this young man then you’re the problem.
Chaaki Child
August 10, 2023 at 8:15 am
Lell the truth people mis👊
Donald A.
August 10, 2023 at 8:18 am
For a while it felt like I was going crazy, that I was in the minority of people saying our common humanity matters more than skin color. It seemed for a while that MLK’s message of colorblindness was replaced by the Black Power movement’s separatism. Seeing this TED talk gives me hope that common sense is becoming popular again. 🙌
Recks
August 10, 2023 at 9:02 am
why didn’t this video appear in my sub box?????
Recks
August 10, 2023 at 11:23 am
His reply to Chris Anderson was brilliant
The 80/20 Drummer
August 11, 2023 at 4:23 pm
Just listened to the debate with Jamelle, and I want to say that in no other area of policy are we so willfully blind to logical sleight of hand, unscientific arguments, and sophistry. It’s great that in 2023 we’re finally able to debate some of the ideas that we’re considered beyond question in 2020, so everyone can see – even if only a few on the left are willing to call it out – how philosophically incoherent they are. (To name just one example, did Jamelle want to address the “effects” of racial policies, as he said? In that case, how would we distinguish between someone suffering the “effects” and someone not? Whenever that came up, he seemed to want to dance to talking about the “vectors” of inequality. Well vectors are hypothetical causes. And I propose a hypothesis that physical attractiveness and fathers in the home are just as good “vectors” in 2023. How would we decide? Oh did you want to switch back to “effects”? Great. Which effects. Etc.) first they ignored Coleman, then they laughed at him, then they fought him. Then he won.
The 80/20 Drummer
August 11, 2023 at 4:23 pm
Just listened to the debate with Jamelle, and I want to say that in no other area of policy are we so willfully blind to logical sleight of hand, unscientific arguments, and sophistry. It’s great that in 2023 we’re finally able to debate some of the ideas that were considered beyond question in 2020, so everyone can see – even if only a few on the left are willing to call it out – how philosophically incoherent they are. (To name just one example, did Jamelle want to address the “effects” of racial policies, as he said? In that case, how would we distinguish between someone suffering the “effects” and someone not? Whenever that came up, he seemed to want to dance to talking about the “vectors” of inequality. Well vectors are hypothetical causes. And I propose a hypothesis that physical attractiveness and fathers in the home are just as good “vectors” in 2023. How would we decide? Oh did you want to switch back to “effects”? Great. Which effects. Etc.) first they ignored Coleman, then they laughed at him, then they fought him. Then he won.
Adam J Morgan
August 12, 2023 at 12:41 pm
Tough to listen to
Wish I had Coleman’s patience
lmg55
August 12, 2023 at 11:23 am
I would like to know why some people in the Ted organization wanted to prevent this talk from airing.
Adam J Morgan
August 12, 2023 at 12:20 pm
Not a good look for them
bcoxal
August 13, 2023 at 11:15 am
So stupid when people talk past each other on this issue, those who say colorblindness should be physical when most people forever have considered it figuratively.
Chingun Anderson
August 13, 2023 at 12:53 pm
Hear hear!
Louis Gedo
August 13, 2023 at 12:56 pm
*Best speech of the year!!!* SHARING
J G
August 13, 2023 at 1:14 pm
“TED welcomes a variety of perspectives on the issues that shape our world” Then why does TED cave to pressure and delay the release of controversial talks like you did with this one? Why haven’t you posted Mikhaila Peterson’s talk about being a carnivore?
Ishmael Mitishamba
August 13, 2023 at 1:46 pm
Idealistic at best. Narrow minded at worst.
Wiggan
August 13, 2023 at 6:09 pm
So, essentially telling people “lets not be racist”, is just to “idealistic” now? Kinda sad to think that being a basic moral and ethical person is to just to high an ideal to wish for eh?
eric1138
August 13, 2023 at 3:02 pm
It is a shame to the TED organization that there were members who wanted to prevent this talk from being posted.
Ycombine
August 13, 2023 at 3:18 pm
Imagine being so brainwashed that you watch this and think. Oh no, we cannot let this dangerous thinking get out, we can’t let TED air this. Because that’s exactly what happened. And the compromise is that he had to debate someone with the opposite view. If that doesn’t show how captured our institutions are IDK what does.
Steven Schenk
August 13, 2023 at 3:19 pm
I unsubscribed from TED’s channel, and will never watch another TED talk until they apologize to Coleman.
Spencer Antonio Marlen-Starr
August 13, 2023 at 4:51 pm
What happened?
Wiggan
August 13, 2023 at 6:06 pm
@Spencer Antonio Marlen-Starr Well, they (TED) considered not posting it, and sat on this talk for some time apparently. They did post it though in the end, so not sure why they have to grovel to Coleman. It’s their organization and they do what they want as far as I’m concerned. It is troubling that this talk was even considered controversial enough to not be posted. Shows where we are as a country when it comes to race relations.
Optimus2357
August 13, 2023 at 3:39 pm
You know, with all the Ted Talks I’ve watched, I have never seen anyone come up on stage immediately after someone has given a talk… Not. Once. If this was planned by Coleman, cool. If this was the producers of Ted’s idea, you really can’t let the people debate and decide for themselves if his position is correct or not? Are you guys really that captured and can’t offend those people who you’re possibly captured by?
George Ou
August 13, 2023 at 4:37 pm
TED employees tried to block this talk from being published.
Wiggan
August 13, 2023 at 5:42 pm
That was Chris Anderson the head of TED. He does come out from time to time. He did at Sam Harris’s TED talk as well. I don’t see why people get upset about it. Chris is more liberal, and he likes to ask follow up questions, and he’s always respectful. It’s called conversation and questions. We need MORE of that.
ubaldo rodriguez
August 13, 2023 at 3:46 pm
Informative.
Scott Meech
August 13, 2023 at 3:55 pm
Saying this in Vancouver is ballzy!
Surprised he wasn’t booed of stage by the progressive freaks!
Julian Gordon
August 13, 2023 at 4:01 pm
I hope this video attracts more attention! Great talk.
Anne B
August 13, 2023 at 4:35 pm
What’s more worrisome than the orchestra example…….is grades/academics. Some schools are doing away with giving grades, advanced courses, or enrichment programs…..because say only 30% are not white or Asian. So you’re robbing the 30% of gifted black and hispanic kids who were in those more challenging courses? Why not focus on younger minority children to try and raise them to push themselves in academics from an earlier age, than bring others down? And then who do we look to in the future to be innovative and solve problems if we has to lower the bar so low in the name of inclusion? I mean no one is yelling the NBA needs to commit to having more 5’7” white guys included.
Cordy One
August 13, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Thank you for articulating so well what I felt when I took my first (and consequently only) HR race and equality slideshow at work. They used the “I dont see colour” line, and I immediately felt deceived and manipulated. I disengaged. I hope that people pay attention and change the direction of training to something more genuine, more intuitive, more logical and yet human.
eric1138
August 13, 2023 at 4:57 pm
Coleman Hughes: 2
TED: 0
P.S. I give TED credit for setting up a debate on the subject, but not in the manner it was done.
Wiggan
August 13, 2023 at 5:43 pm
uhh. This was not a debate, it was a TED talk. LMAO. I think you meant to comment on the actual debate he had with Jameel. 🤣🤣
pavel0900
August 13, 2023 at 5:15 pm
Glad that after long deliberation you finally allowed Coleman’s speech to be shared on your platform. Color blindness is what great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. wanted us to achieve.
Macht Nichts Sei Mann
August 13, 2023 at 5:18 pm
And maybe, just maybe, there IS enough $$$ for children/education/instruments, BUT…the System is so corrupt and beholden to teachers/unions RATHER than “being for the children”. Also: Parents/Families/Culture play a LARGE part in whether children of ethnic minorities ( of whatever “color” ) will entertain and pursue dreams of playing in an orchestra. Watch “Waiting for Superman” and see how “Investing” / throwing money at a problem can do no good when not combined with reform/discipline of poor teachers/parental responsibility/addressing peer pressure within one’s community.
Diamond Cascade Black Spring
August 13, 2023 at 6:02 pm
Rather than saying you see people without regards to their race (colour of their skin)… say you see them by the content of their character. ( lol wonder who said that…)
The concept is not new. Whether its MLK or the Bible, it is just whether people truly wish to listen to the message sincerely.
Diamond Cascade Black Spring
August 13, 2023 at 6:06 pm
Well said… affirmative action should be based on financial situation and not on race. In addition, when you have a large number of candidates but limited positions, ratios may still have to influenced percentages of the populations maybe by geographic area or whatnot
Ikenga Spirit
August 13, 2023 at 6:09 pm
There is no going back. The racialist leftists have left a permanent with the 2020 summer of love. There is no going back to 90s colour blindness politics and attempts to do so are a waste of time, we move forward to the racial identitarian utopia.
James Beaman
August 13, 2023 at 7:13 pm
This is genius. Coleman is the future. I hope.
Azrael Cruz
August 13, 2023 at 7:50 pm
Best Ted Talk in years.
DMR
August 13, 2023 at 8:00 pm
Love Coleman’s views on this subject
garyweglarz
August 13, 2023 at 8:30 pm
Thank you Coleman.
One party roulé
August 13, 2023 at 8:45 pm
True and healthy progress takes time. It’s inconvenient that there are no good quick fix solutions to processes of evolution, but when you try and force the process you cause all kinds of problems that you wouldn’t have otherwise. You have to find acceptance whilst practicing your principles and trying to make the world a better place to live.
SirEmoSushi
August 13, 2023 at 10:36 pm
Crazy that you were forced to debate this topic as a condition of releasing this talk… Still, great talk and great debate.
ElectricBlueberryJam
August 13, 2023 at 11:35 pm
Aw damn, the host debated the speaker?? That’s crazy
Conny Charles Lindström
August 14, 2023 at 12:37 am
Ted Talk = USSR!
Kwanzaa Klaus
August 14, 2023 at 12:58 am
*Why does this even need to be said in 2023?*
Devil Stix Dave
August 14, 2023 at 1:12 am
👍
Wudly91
August 14, 2023 at 4:00 am
It’s cool they allowed this
Nikola Newton
August 14, 2023 at 5:48 am
The guy at the end of the talk makes a fallacy, he’s suggesting that poor minority students are the ONLY people who are poor in the area, if someone is poor in that area and is NOT a minority, do they not also need help getting access to instruments?
Alex Wilson-Razzell
August 14, 2023 at 7:21 am
The fact that this even needed to be a TED talk in the first place to state the bloody obvious feels absolutely crazy.
People have been arguing over this for decades, and every single time we come back to: “don’t treat anybody differently based on race”.
How hard is that, really? Colour-blindness FTW.
Muigel valdovinos
August 14, 2023 at 9:08 am
Well said, and the fact that this dude bragged about voting for Briben, makes him even less credible
Anthony F.
August 14, 2023 at 8:35 am
If only Jim was Tyrone- Six foot two, and a red head. Just to see the audience explode.
geebjen
August 14, 2023 at 9:39 am
Add me to the list of voices who are shocked that TED was not going to release this until other conditions were met.
Alexx Popalexx
August 14, 2023 at 11:52 am
simple and true
MatthewatDefiantLegends
August 14, 2023 at 12:30 pm
Great talk! Shame on TED for wanting to censor this.
oneski io
August 14, 2023 at 12:44 pm
And think TED almost banned this video! Shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!
scott sherman
August 14, 2023 at 6:49 pm
Yes…Ted, Danson I’m assuming, should be made to walk thru the entirety of the interwebs sans pants while we good people all yell “Shame!” at him & then laugh at his….actually, damnit, he’s got a hog on him. Well….well, shoot….good on ya Mr. Danson.
Nina Daly
August 14, 2023 at 1:20 pm
My god! This man is so impressive! Fabulous mind. I predict he will be a central figure in the new order that comes from this mess we’re in today. I hope so. Of course part of me is obligated to “hate him” for being able to see things this clearly by the age of 27!!!!!!, I’m so green with envy! (lol) But the rest of me couldn’t be more impressed and supportive.
scott sherman
August 14, 2023 at 6:10 pm
There’s no sense envying someone else’s gifts…he’s not brilliant at 27 because he worked harder than 99% of others, or is simply a better person than 99% of others. Rather, he was born with 1% genetic prowess, or high IQ. I do dig what he’s choosing to do with his talent.
Nina Daly
August 14, 2023 at 7:29 pm
@scott sherman Oh Come On! A true thinker at 27 is fantastic! It’s obvious he didn’t waste his time and has dedicated himself AND YES I CAN be envious of him. When I think back to what occupied my head at his age, it makes me want to shoot myself (lol)!
Brian B
August 14, 2023 at 1:53 pm
I’m utterly horrified that this almost did not get released. When did it become OK to start suppressing this kind of discourse?
Shahrooz Shadbakht
August 14, 2023 at 2:10 pm
We are human beings, first and foremost. One family
Jordan Cox
August 14, 2023 at 5:16 pm
A self-evident truth, rediscovered in the 21st century.
Jordan Cox
August 14, 2023 at 5:18 pm
Shame on TED for nearly not posting this.
Murray Moore
August 14, 2023 at 7:30 pm
this should be common sense man
Seven Idols
August 14, 2023 at 8:58 pm
Ted, finally doing something worthwhile again.