Earlier this week, faculty from the five Claremont Colleges agreed to hold a consortium wide Blindfold Day to teach students about social justice issues. “We can’t help what we think as soon as we see people,” said Pitzer Student Senator who proposed the idea, Kevin Whittier. He continued: “This will eliminate that initial barrier to equality.”
Students around campus have rallied around the idea; Pomona first-year Alexandra Stanton summed it up: “We all have biases, but once we put on those blindfolds, racism may truly disappear.”
Dissenters of this idea, however, say that this idea is abilist and does not take into account those with vision impairments. “People who are coming from a place where, you know, they can’t see already, they aren’t going to notice a tangible difference in the way they go about their daily lives,” said Harvey Mudd junior Matt Jones. Students rallying around this issue are calling for the event to be delayed while alternatives are considered.
Others have issue with the day it was set to be on, October 25th, as it interferes with Pitzer’s fourth vote to suspend Haifa. Details on the event will be updated soon.
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