why colorblindness is not helpful

With a good heart and noble intentions, I've heard people say, "I don't see color when I look at someone." Or they might say, "We are all the same."  I believe these statements really are genuinely meant to convey our shared humanity as fellow human beings, and to communicate that the speaker recognizes that we all bleed the same, we all have dreams, emotions, we all experience joy and pain and loss in life. The speaker, I believe, is wanting to say that he/she doesn't see a social hierarchy, but rather our commonalities as fellow human beings.  

So why isn't it helpful to say that we are colorblind and don't see color?  

Telling someone that you don't see color inadvertently communicates that you don't see all of that person nor have interest in this person's different culture, heritage, unique perspective, or racial experience.  And by saying that "we're all the same", we, as white people, can also be expecting the person of color to assimilate into white dominate culture, to value what we value when we say "we are all the same."  

We cannot move toward race conversations and dismantling racism if we pretend not to see color or believe that race does not matter or factor into almost everything in society.  

We can still communicate that we as humans share a lot in common AND at the same time see, acknowledge, respect, learn about, and affirm diversity through race, culture, and ethnicity.