Colorblind: A Story of Racism

Zuiker Teen Topics

by Johnathan Harris, Anthony Zuiker (Primary Contributor), Garry Leach (Illustrator)

Johnathan, a fifteen-year-old African American from Long Beach, California, shares his story of being physically and verbally harassed because of his race, and of overcoming the discrimination to embrace all cultures, and then to be proud of his own.

A Story of Racism is the third in a series of graphic novels written by young adults for their peers.

Johnathan Harris is fifteen, and lives in Long Beach, California, where he loves playing soccer with his friends, and listening to their favorite rapper, Snoop Dogg, a Long Beach native. His mom, dad, and three brothers are tight, but one of the most influential family members for Johnathan is his Uncle Russell, a convict in prison, serving fifteen years to life . . .

Uncle Russell taught Johnathan from a very young age to see people from the perspective of their cultures, and not just their skin color. He imbued a pride of his ancestry and cautioned against letting hatred into his heart.

But when Johnathan was just eight years old, something happened that filled him with fear and the very hatred that Uncle Russell had warned him about. What happened to Johnathan made him see that a dream of a colorless world was just that. A dream.

That event shook him to his core. Anger grew inside him like a hot coal. Uncle Russell had told him to “throw it away or you will get burned,” but Johnathan was young and frightened. He was having a hard time forgiving, much less forgetting.

Colorblind is Johnathan’s story of confronting his own racism and overcoming it. It is a story of hope and optimism that all, young and old, should heed.

Zuiker Press is proud to publish stories about important current topics for kids and adolescents, written by their peers, that will help them cope with the challenges they face in today’s troubled world.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Teen, Comics, Family, Realistic Fiction

96 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2019

Reviews

[Amanda Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a fan of the title, or the publisher's text that describes how the narrator learns to "break free of the restraints of racism," when the real lesson he learns is to not react with anger to the racial bigotry he experiences playing soccer, and racist treatment from a prejudiced police officer. True, facing racism with equanimity is a valuable and necessary skill for anyone who must survive in this unjust world, but no amount of equanimity can protect a young black man from future experiences of racial injustice. Equanimity doesn't make the world more fair. Overall, this story left me angry at the amount of emotional work the teenage narrator had to do, and the awful experiences he had to overcome. His maturity and composure are commendable, but in his short life, he has dealt with situations that no young person should ever have to face. Society needs to do better, and be better. It's appalling that we expect our children to do this work.

[Libby Cope · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am having a hard time rating this book. I feel bad giving a teen author 2 stars. I am going to put more of the blame on Zuiker Press, the publishing company.

I don’t like the term colorblind. We should not strive for this because then you aren’t truly seeing the person. I am very shocked the publishing company let this go. I mean, they allowed it to be the title of the book.

Comparing the Black experience to the Irish experience also didn’t sit right with me.

The art work was off to me.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are interesting insights here about being an African American chid in the USA today, but the storytelling is too sappy and Afterschool Special for my tastes.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the notion of being colorblind when it comes to someone's race might seem like a good thing, it isn't necessarily so when it means that you are unaware of what makes that person unique. In this graphic novel a teen boy shares his experiences with racism, even having been manhandled by the police and watching his older brothers be handcuffed by mistake. Johnathan Harris was eight years old at the time, and it is his uncle, who is incarcerated, and his parents who help keep him on the straight and narrow path. He learns about the great civil rights leaders, including baseball great Jackie Robinson who chose to avoid violence or retaliation against those who wronged them. Readers would do well to follow his example and play hard on the soccer field just as he does, but learn to forgive others and work on themselves. As with the other title in this new series, this one will have great appeal for middle graders who are struggling with the same issues the author/narrator is. I'm eager to see what will come next for this young man and this publishing house.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand that this is autobiographical and a young person's story and that is really nice to see. However, I do find it a little problematic as it barely scratches the surface of racism and is mostly mislabeled. It is more about how to deal with your own anger and bitterness towards a society that can often seem to be against you, your own anger and bitterness of systematic oppression as well as the individual racism of others. But even that story is just so light and nice it almost gives the impression that "It isn't that bad". It is not the best message to send if the world is trying to fight against the systemic oppression of POC.

I also found it to be a little preachy, which took me by surprise as it was completely unexpected.

This book should only ever be used as a launchpad for a deeper discussion. It can open the doorway to talking about big issues, but don't let this be the only book you read about the subject of racism.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-intended, but flawed. Colorblind is kind of an awful title, but the message is hopeful, although far too simplistically viewed. I think as the author gets a bit older, his story will become a bit more nuanced.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a great graphic novel, but it is hard to judge someone's personal story. As a personal story this was interesting and well-written. And shared a perspective that was worth reading. Otherwise the art was fine - it didn't distract. A pure message series feels a bit overbearing. And after reading book after book about the dangers of color blindness - it's hard not to just disagree. The idea and ideals of color blindness is a good one. 3.5 of 5.

[Villain E · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not perfect, but I'm giving it 5 stars anyway because I want to encourage this. This is an autobiographical graphic novel written by an African American teenager on the topic of racism, published by a new publisher who focuses on topical issues. The story is well told. The artwork is good, straight-forward comics art.

Johnathan Harris is an African American boy living in Long Beach, California. His life is heavily influenced by his family, especially his uncle Russell. Uncle Russell is in prison, serving 15 years to life, and he focuses on his youngest nephew as his lifeline and his inspiration to be a better person. The first half of the book starts with an introduction, then focuses on the author's relationship with his uncle. In the second half, Johnathan starts playing soccer, a sport that doesn't attract black kids (at least not where he lives). Other players throw every insult they can think of his way. His family, using the recently released movie about Jackie Robinson as an example, convince him to rise above, and ultimately he is able to change some of the haters into friends.

This book is pretty good all around. My issues are mostly freshman issues. I'm pretty sure this was written like an essay and then adapted. This could have been published in text only. There are no panels leveraging the unique storytelling of the comics medium. Also, there are so many scenes which are illustrating thoughts rather than actual events, but there's no technique in the art used to distinguish them. And some idiot colored the rainbow incorrectly while the author is using it as a metaphor.

This is not what I would call a literary autobiography. It reads more like an entry for one of those national essay writing contests. But it's a well written essay by someone who's still in high school and I would absolutely recommend this for other high-schoolers. Of any ethnicity.

[Dana Berglund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tricky. I like publishing short mini memoirs by young adults, in graphic novel format. I like hearing one person's perspective on his family, growing up with a tight bond with his incarcerated uncle, and encountering casual racism. However, the ultimate message here is that he tries to be colorblind and just not get mad each time that people treat him unfairly (rudely, abusively) because of his race. It's also a little weird that the opening and closing pages of the book highlight white educators and publishers who made it all happen. (If it were the author's teacher, I would understand. But it wasn't. And the publishers are the creator of a major TV franchise and his wife, so their full page bios also seemed gratuitous.) This provides a perspective from a modern teen that is different from many of the books about black teens being published today, but I don't know that I would ever recommend this over those other books, as it minimizes racist actions and ignores systemic racism entirely.

[Jaclyn Hillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate the word ‘colorblind’. To me, it implies that you truly aren’t seeing a person. You’re seeing past them. They’re invisible. You’re silencing them. People need to be seen. And they definitely need to be heard. The color of someone’s skin is a part of them just as their life experiences, culture, language, perspectives, and much more are. We need to see and accept people for who they are as a whole, and not just parts of them. Colorblind is Jonathan’s story and how he dealt with racism growing up — from his family being wrongfully cuffed to bullying on the soccer field. This book opens up conversation about racism and what we can do to combat it.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this three stars because I appreciate that this is the author's story and his perspective as a 15 year old. I do wonder how he will view this text as he grows. I very much dislike the title and think the message is maybe over-simplified and puts too much pressure on the person experiencing racism without helping those who are perpetuating racism to make changes.

[Janine Sanderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just want to start off by saying off by saying that I admire this young boy Jonathan Harris for telling his story. However, I do question how much of this story is by him as opposed to the creator of the teen story series (who apparently is a creator of the CSI series franchise) so that sort of brings up more questions as to how this story is told. Some parts felt like a cheesy Afterschool special.

This isn’t a criticism of this teen, but just the way the story was handled and the ideology that one must overcome their anger when dealing with racism. The issue with this idea is that it puts the onus on the very people (in this case, this young black child) suffering from the effects of racism to do the work for the people perpetuating it. That doesn’t sit well with me at all. Why does a young black teen have to be the one to change and be the “bigger person” instead of the racists kids on the soccer team? I personally thought it was weird how Jonathan’s parents never addressed the racial bullying to the coach during soccer. It just gives me the impression that there’s an agenda being pushed with this book to make racism seem individualized and casual instead of a system in place due to the horrific history of Jim Crow, racialize chattel slavery, and colonialism that still effects Black Americans even in 2024.

I was definitely angered by the Police brutality this child went through with his family, admittedly, it was the most intense part of the book. Unsurprisingly, the police were never charged or even fired for racial attack on Jonathan and his family.

Also, I’m not a fan of the title, again it screams cheesy Afterschool special and plus it’s an extremely dangerous and flawed concept. Colorblind? Ignoring one’s skin color which is one of many important attributes of an individual’s culture, view point, how others view them, and how they move in America is at best, ignorant and at worst, sends this message of force tolerance despite one’s skin color. That’s a dangerous message to send to young impressionable children and teenagers especially the black youth.

The worst part of the book was how it compared racial brutality that Black Americans suffered to Irish Immigrants pushed me to the edge and made me throw the book across my room. I’m no longer a teen but it worries me that this book is being read by children. Minimizing the black experience is disgusting. Again, I don’t know if it’s due to Jonathan’s idealistic hope for humanity to relate to other’s struggles or this CSI creator’s questionable intentions to outright ignore systemic racism and make comparisons, but one things for sure is that it disappointed me that it went down that route.

Overall, this graphic novel had so much potential to be great. Nonetheless, it ended up being watered down as well as bogged down by ulterior motives of colorblindness and the expectations put on black children to not get angry when clearly being mistreated. That black children need to be the bigger person but not calling out and reprimanding the racist actions of the white people in the book causing the racism. It also opened up the idea that Jonathan’s emotional, mental, and sense of security isn’t important nor is his trauma with systemic racism despite it being the focal point of the book. How ironic that a book about racism misses the historical aspects of racism, colonialism, chattel slavery, police brutality, lynching among other traumatic events in America that has shaped a group of people for centuries which leads to Jonathan’s tale is pushed away to appease an agenda of colorblindness on Jonathan’s part…And the extra pages regarding the educators and creator in the beginning and end didn’t help my uneasy feelings when seeing that no other person of color IIRC was involved in the making of the book with the exception of Jonathan and the FBI officer.

This book was in my local library, that was how I was able to come across this and I’m honestly thinking about having it removed.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another title from the Zuiker Teen Topics series. Though well-intended, this one misses the mark due to its simplicity of resolution. It puts the onus for a solution on the victim turning around the bully by using reason.

Harris talks about his family's experience with racism and how they have dealt with it. He is from a core African-American family (his father is a parole officer), with his uncle incarcerated in prison at the time. He describes a racially-influenced SWAT raid that included excessive force of his parent's home when he was a child. He also details abuse received from students at his school and opponents during soccer games, with a breakthrough moment with a boy on the opposite team.

Now in 11th grade, Harris' voice is that of a young man in high school giving a speech. It is still idealistic and hopeful, but one wonders how this process will work for others in more repressive regions of the U.S. (He lives in California.) Like others in the series, this is told in graphic novel format, with full color artwork that looks like the author. Backmatter includes a photo and brief bio of Harris, photos of his family, and five "Take Aways" written by a retired Black FBI officer.

This could be a useful title for counselors and therapists to start a conversation. The graphic nature makes it a quick read to discuss.

Optional for grades 6-up.

[Sue Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel about Johnathan, an African-American boy who is struggling against racism directed at him, is part of a nonfiction series written by young people for young people. The authors all tell about a serious problem that they struggled with and overcame.

I agree with some of the other reviewers here that the title and the concept of colorblindness for this particular book are problematic, but since the book is by the subject, I hesitate to judge that aspect too harshly.

Like the other books, the art work here is well-done and the story seems complete, if a little bit difficult to follow in some parts. The back matter, which has photos of the actual authors and advice for parents, is useful and interesting.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a “neat and tidy” little tale of racism and how one young man chooses to deal with it. I don’t like the title - colourblind has negative connotations when talking about race and identity, as if our uniqueness doesn’t matter and it downplays how our experiences have shaped us. Johnathan’s character and identity is largely shaped because of the colour of his skin so for him to say he is colourblind... it gives the wrong message. It’s a safe story for schools (grade 6-8), but that’s about the only place I would likely recommend it. It will open the discussion but it needs to be followed up with stronger narratives about racism and how too can cope and deal with it in our lives.

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I think racism and how to be anti-racist is more complex than just being "colorblind," I found this an interesting and poignant book. This is a personal story by Johnathan Harris. He describes his journey in learning to be "colorblind" and letting go of anger. As I said, I feel like the situation is a little more complex than portrayed in Colorblind. However, Harris' honesty and determination in accepting others from different cultures is inspiring. It makes you feel hopeful that it really could be that simple.

Also, I really enjoyed the illustrations.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially in classroom discussions!

[Candance Doerr-Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an autobiographical graphic novel written by teen for teens. As an adult, I found the story to be a bit underdeveloped, but I realize I am not the intended audience. I’m especially intrigued by the publishers, Zuiker Press, who pair teens who want to voice their own stories with artists who help represent them via graphic novel. I’m curious to check out others in this series. I hope their hand at editing isn’t too heavy.

[Shan Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick Comic Read - “Judge Others Not By The Colour Of Their Skin, But By The Content Of Their Character”

A great story to introduce to black youth, especially black sons! Show them they aren’t who the world wants them to be.

I also find it interesting in this story, in my personal life and in the poc experience how we must overlook how we are treated and “kill them with kindless” to show them we are human also. We’re still working on that colourblind work Dr. King was talking about.

[Brianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The self promotion of Zuiker Press in the beginning and end pages of this book was a huge turn off for me due to self congratulatory white people. This book felt ultimately exploitive rather than authentic compared to other autobiographical graphic novels i have read about racial justice in America.

[Talisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. This young man's story is his experience, and it's very valid but the way it was written and some other things featured in the book left me uneasy. Colorblindness isn't really a great way to deal with racism. And the our country shouldn't be a melting pot, it should be a salad bowl, to borrow a-phrase and paraphrase it-from Jane Elliot.

[Colleen Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The point of the book is a 5/5, but the story itself was very simplistic. The artwork was good and the overall message was good, but there was little depth to it. It was exactly what I expected it to be based on the cover and title.

As a teacher, I think the book has a lot of potential for opening discourse amongst students.

[Arlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like the way white women use the term colorblind to mask their racism. But the way this young author uses it is different. This is a compelling story of family and overcoming racism. Good lessons for my kid.

[Christine Lynd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole series is a great Hi/Lo read for students in high school or just for younger readers who are interested in social issues. This particular book addresses police brutality, incarceration, race, culture, and overcoming obstacles with the help of family.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd book about teaching a black kid not to be racist? Sprinkle in some out of the blue bible quotes and then you have this book. It jumped around a lot and didn't seem very cohesive as a story to me.

[Critterbee❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new take on respecting yourself and others in the face of racism, but puts the responsibility for overcoming it on those affected most negatively by racism. Great representation for family with members incarcerated, an under-served audience.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible story told by a teenager! While he didn't do the amazing graphics for this, the words were his own and are very important. This is a cool series I've not heard from before so I'll be looking into all the rest, too.

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and series

[Chewie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of this series. It's nice to see young teen authors and collaborative projects come together.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very worthwhile read. Heartbreaking and full of hope.