Colorblind describes someone who has difficulty seeing the difference between certain colors, most commonly red and green. This happens because their eyes process colors differently than most people's eyes do. About 1 in 12 boys and 1 in 200 girls are born colorblind.

Imagine looking at a traffic light where the red and green lights look nearly identical, or trying to pick out a ripe strawberry when it looks almost the same color as the leaves around it. That's what daily life can be like for someone who is colorblind. Many colorblind people learn to compensate by noticing other details: they might remember that red is the top light on a traffic signal, or that ripe bananas feel softer, even if the color change isn't obvious to them.

The word also has a metaphorical meaning: treating people the same way regardless of their race or skin color. When someone says they try to be colorblind in this sense, they mean they don't judge people based on racial categories.