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What I remember about race relations in the 1990s is that you showed your awareness by saying you didn't see race, that you were colour-blind.
Celeste Ng
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote critiques the idea of being 'color-blind' in race relations, suggesting it overlooks the realities of racial identity and experience.

Celeste Ng reflects on the prevailing attitude in the 1990s where people claimed to be 'color-blind,' implying that they did not see race. This perspective, while seemingly positive, actually fails to acknowledge the significance of race in shaping individuals' experiences and identities. It suggests that ignoring race does not contribute to true understanding or reconciliation in race relations.

Themes

RaceAwarenessColor-BlindRelationsIdentity

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about diversity, this quote can highlight the pitfalls of a superficial understanding of race.

More from Celeste Ng

Let's stop reflexively comparing Chinese writers to Chinese writers, Indian writers to Indian writers, black writers to black writers. Let's focus on the writing itself: the characters, the language, the narrative style.
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Spend enough time wrangling a toddler, and you get good at being kind but firm. Like your child, you must be doggedly single-minded when it matters.
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For me, any story I tackle begins with the human relationships and not the plot.
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It's so easy, as a writer, to get stuck in your own head, to live in the little worlds you create. To forget that there are people out there reading your work, people who may be deeply affected by what you do, that you are writing not just for yourself, but for them.
Celeste NgRead
In fiction you're not often writing about the typical; you are interested in outliers, the points of interest. Part of it comes from feeling I was the only Asian or person of colour... another part comes from my personality: I'm an introvert, and my usual survival mode in a large group is to stand by a wall and watch everybody.
Celeste NgRead
Writing is like shouting into the world. So when someone shouts back, it's a really big deal. To have people who read hundreds and hundreds of books a year say, 'Hey, we thought this was really great,' that's a huge self-esteem boost.
Celeste NgRead

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