Agos, 17 January 1997
Come, let’s play a game of colours today. I am, in fact, colour blind. It’s just how God made me, there is nothing this mortal man can do about it. I cannot distinguish red from green. Or green from red, for that matter. I couldn’t get a driving license for years because of it. I constantly failed the eye test. It turns out that the book they put in front of me contained shapes and numbers cleverly made up of colours of similar tones. So I called a bird a fish and what I said was a house was in actual fact a tree.
Even worse, I remember making the greatest blunder when I offered a compliment to my hazel-eyed love, telling her, “What beautiful green eyes you have.” And I’ll never forget my children having fun with their dad, playing a game of colours and asking, “What colour is this? What colour is this?” As I got the colours mixed up, they would laugh out loud.
Say… Have you ever wondered what it means to be colour blind, or what percentage of people in the world are colour blind?
Well then, stop reclining in front of those technicolour movies on your TV sets every night, and get down to some serious research instead.
***
Come, let’s play a game of colours today. What would the dominance of a single colour represent for you? Just consider that for a moment in your mind’s eye. And don’t think that such a thing has never been attempted. But what did the dominance of red solve in Stalin’s Russia, or in Mao’s China? What did the dominance of green solve in Khomeini’s Iran, or in Gaddafi’s Libya? And what about black? What did it solve in Hitler’s Germany, or in Mussolini’s Italy? In any of these countries, did the imposed dominance of a single colour succeed in ending the lives of all the other colours?
Red, green or black, the dominance of a single colour is fascism itself.
Say… Have you ever wondered if there is a flag on earth that contains all colours?
Well then, no more playing the couch potato in front of those technicolour movies on your TV sets every night, get down to some serious research instead.
***
Come, let’s play a game of colours today. Let’s talk a little about the common colours worshipped by societies. Why do people cling to such an artificial common point? Have you ever thought about this? People even fight wars over colours. Standing out as vivid examples are the conflict between white and black in America, or clashes over the national flag or the national colour in various parts of the world.
It is often said that colours are symbols and that in fact these clashes between societies arise because of the conflict between the social interests with which these symbols are loaded.
Say… Have you ever wondered if there is a state or nation on earth that does not have a flag?
Well then, jump up all you couch potatoes busy watching technicolour movies on your TV sets every night; here’s some more homework for you, so start your research.
***
I say that being colour blind in this thankless world is in fact a privilege bestowed by nature. It has no cons, but it does have its pros. Compared to the ‘brain blindness’ of those who cling to a single colour and become blind slaves to it, our colour blindness is, believe me, nothing but pure delight.
Say… Have you ever heard about a universal organization known as the ‘Union of the Colourblind’?
No? Well then, stop staring blankly at the colourful world on your TV sets every night.
Join our union instead.