Colors of the Wind

Continuing his thoughts on the Dynamics of Dominance, Howard states that whites have the "luxury of ignorance". Within this section, he says that white people know very little about non-whites. Rather than trying to learn from those different from ourselves, he believes that whites all too often just ignore the differences. He uses the stories of the Australian Aboriginals to prove his point-- in Australia, the aboriginals have learned how to live with the white people, rather than the two cultures merging together. He refers to Appleby (1992) who said that the luxury of ignorance is actually a "deep forgetting" that has clouded White awareness of the realities of history (p. 425).

Howard continues his thought by saying that white people are actually "colorblind" and see only white. They have inherited the skill of selected forgotten memory, forgetting certain parts of history. This statement made me think of the story of Pocahontas for some reason; I think the white people coming and taking over the Indian's land is a perfect example depicting Howard's statements. As he has said, white people who only see white actually inhibits our view of the past; it takes away our awareness of others and their historical background. In Pocahontas' story, she is able to get John Smith to "see the colors of the wind" and not just his whiteness, and his entire worldview changed. He recognized his wrong mindset, and saw the beautiful history of the Indians, and all that they had to offer to their present world. I think this story is a great example of Howard's statement.



Howard tells the tragic story of his son's best friends death at the Rio Grande River. To deal with the death, his son decided to go there and hoped that doing that would help him come to terms with the loss. He ended up getting a job at a white-water rafting company and eventually became a certified river guide. Going down the river is now his favorite thing to do, and his journey has been full of healing and discovery. His son now has gone down the river using many tools of flotation-- small paddle boats, rowboats, dories, kayaks, power rafts, etc. Howard says that his son loves each of those methods because you get to experience the river a little differently through each of the ways. Howard then makes a great point that really stuck out to me-- similarly, we need to recognize that each person has a different perspective on life.

Because everyone has gone through various experiences, we can never truly understand one another's perspectives. We can however get glimpses into each other's eyes when we go "down the river" and through similar journeys together. When we put aside our differences, we can more easily understand where we each come from. These differing perspectives though are what help us better discover the important things in life.

I love this fact. Part of my worldview is that I believe we are all created special, and are all children of God. He has made us all unique but uses each of our different skills and abilities to further his plan. Believing this, I fully agree with Howard's idea that the various differences between us better enable us to understand and live life. I agree heavily with Howard's statements, and continue to gain more insight as I keep reading. The river of life is an exciting adventure, and hearing other people's perspectives help us enjoy it more thoroughly.